Ascension of Earth's Guardians
by Ciroth
Summary: In the wake of the revelations of the Elders' Avatar project, XCOM did what they always do: Anything they had to. Covering events from XCOM2, TFTD, The Martian and Mass Effect, this is the first book in the Protectors series.
1. Chapter 1: Someone better

A/N: This crossover is based from XCOM2 by Firaxis Games, Mass Effect by Bioware, Terror From The Deep (Probably Firaxis Games) with a touch of The Martian by Andy Weir. I also do not own any of the listed works. This is a planned trilogy. This contains spoilers for Mass Effect and XCOM 2. If you haven't played them yet, why not?

No ownership of their work is assumed or implied. This work is strictly for entertainment purposes and is not part of the official story line. All associated with this work are not profiting from the creation and or publication of this work. Any issues or questions regarding the publication of this work should be directed to the author or his specified representative.

Big thanks to my editors and friends, Justarandom1 FFN: 3054606, Rellikrats1, CloudZen FFN: 894440, and Daisy Duck.

 **Chapter 1: There is always someone better than you**

 **Earth, June 2036**

It seemed like the aliens were a horde, a relentless one. ADVENT and alien forces led by a creature, frail-look but strong in the mind. This being was known as an Elder. It stood over two meters, wore a grey helmet of some sorts. There was a hole in the middle, a long oval shape. The Elders wore thick armored red robes, allowing them to hide their four arms with in.

These creatures were psionically able to project themselves into this realm and had taken control of incomplete avatar bodies. The combined forces had flooded the hall. Not far from where portals brought in forces was a group of humans. They were protecting their own white-haired creature. This creature was grown from the DNA of the body they had stolen from the Elders.

This body was grown by Doctor Tygen, Head of the Research department. While the good doctor was able to grow the body, they could not figure out why the Elders needed to melt humans down to make their own versions. The current theory was that they were desperate and had gotten stupidly sloppy.

The thing about this body was that it was the key to get into this underwater city. To unlock the key, it needed to be done psionically and have the right DNA. Thus, this body was grown from a stolen, partly-finished sample. This allowed the body to be remotely controlled by the person only known as The Commander. The Commander's physical body was back on on the Avenger, XCOM Headquarters. The Commander looked up and swallowed hard. They were running out of options.

His eyes tracked farther up, seeing the clear glass, plastic, transparent aluminum or whatever the hell it was, he saw Humpback whales. It brought a smile to his face as he remembered a time before the war, pleased that they were not extinct and requiring time travel to save them like Kirk had to. He leaned on the pillar, made of an unfamiliar alloy, carved in a language that was just on the edge of his brain. He felt certain he should know it but for the life of himself he could not remember it. He placed it a moment later, this was the Elders own language.

These Elders had forced other species into slavery, altering them for their own needs. The Commander sighed at the loss of life, slaves forced upon the gladiator's spear. Are they really a race still if their free will was stolen? Yes, these Elders had uplifted humanity but in return, they had wanted to melt everyone down. The reason? To create a body like the Commander was remotely controlling via the Elders' own Psionic Network.

He let out a soft sigh as he remembered being trapped in his mind, running simulations for the Elders like a video game. They had used what he had won and lost as a guide to wipe out all resistance to their plan. The plan? To melt all humankind into a goo to create more of these Avatar bodies. They already had taken millions with the order to rapidly liquify the rest of the Human race.

The strangeness of that order had caught the leadership of XCOM off guard. Regardless of what the Elders wanted, today is when it ended. This underwater building is where XCOM fought back and stopped this threat once and for all.

With a snap of his rifle that focused his psionic energies, he snapped a shot off and killed a muton that was rushing his Sniper, call sign Lexxreal. With a dart of his body, he dove behind the half-wall next to Hambilus. "Give me a count!"

" _ **The hopes we had for your race. We gave your race peace. This is the repayment you give us."**_

The Avatar of the Commander shook his head. "Will the help-desk please shut up?! Stop with the automated woe is me message!" He looked at his General "Now, what's the count?"

Hambilus grunted "Four Elder Avatars down. I think each of us must have at least a hundred kills. If we didn't use the same power packs as the aliens, we would have run out of ammo a long fucking time ago. We are out of consumables." He paused as he snapped his left hand out. Half a second later, a sectoid fell, plasma burns on its temple. "Correction, we have one more fission missile left in the Wub Wub gun, but Carlo has it. Chadraln is providing cover with his LMG."

The Commander looked over at the positions of the XCOM's forces. This was their stand, their Alamo. Fail here and humankind ground his teeth as he felt another Psi Rift form. He saw that one of his Psi Ops, codename Hephzibah Kitty, was already leading an Archon and an Andy over to deal with it. That's when he saw his chance. The portals were the weakness.

"Kitty FALL BACK!" The Commander yelled. "Knotai! Fall back to my position with Kitty. Lexxreal, I need overwatch coverage. Nothing comes within 10 meters of us. General, please bring me the Wub Wub,"

With a grim nod, Lexxreal activated his jump boots and brought himself to the high ground. Several plasma bolts lanced from his rifle. "Clear for the next two minutes, Commander! Better make it fast as a pair of zerkers're coming!"

At the same time, Hamblius let out a howl of rage as he tore from his cover. They all were thankful that the armor that they wore could stand up to Plasma and provided a longer endurance. The Commander looked at his two Psi Ops.

"I need the two of you to help me when the General gets back here. We need to know where the next portal will be. The timing needs to be exact. We will direct the missile through the portal." The Commander said.

"That's not possible!" Cried out Kitty.

Knotai's voice sounding like Yoda for a moment "And that is why you fail." He simply reached out with his hand and shot a lance of psionic energy. It caught a viper that had started its lunge. His voice changing to sound like an instructor for a moment. "No harder than knowing exactly where to lance."

Scant seconds later, Hamblius slid in, letting his feet touch the half-wall. He lifted the blaster launcher to his Commander. The Commander took it and closed his eyes. "Place your hand on my shoulder. Open yourself up to me and push your power into me." He ordered his Psi Ops.

He slowly took a breath as he felt the power starting to flow into this body. If this body had been fully human, it would have melted from the energy. His hand snapped up and launched the missile. What could have been a problem, it was not directed at anything. That did not matter as the Commander grabbed the missile with his will. As he reached out, he saw it, more like felt the tear between places. The fission missile made a wub wub sound as the Commander guided it.

The missile had arrived the next moment before it had stabilized where matter could travel between worlds via the one-way portal that spawned. The lance detonated, turning matter into energy. It tore through the portal like it was paper, the fission of the missile consuming the energy of the portal. This caused the portal to destabilize.

The three psionics were still connected to the missile as it went off. They felt the psionic backlash as they felt themselves connect with the Elders and an unknown being of greater power. He felt almost like he was being judged by this unknown entity. The Elders did not seem to notice this power.

" _ **LEARN**_ " The voice pierced through the shielding that they had placed over their own minds.

Kitty and Knotai both went to their knees as they broke the connection with the Commander. "By Hera and Zeus, what was that?" Gasped the female operative. "Not even the Elders felt like that."

The Commander felt the voice hit him like a bullet train. He had closed his eyes to help block the presence when he felt something lance though his brain. If he had not been remote controlling the Avatar body which weakened the impact, he did not think he would have lived though that spike. Information was shunted aside as he had to focus upon the here and now.

"Time to leave." He whispered. He had finally noted the drain on his will. Thanks to the pulsing purple psi energy that had given even more energy to the missile, the portal was now sucking everything back through it, almost like an implosion. He had to drop the drain of keeping the portal open. This caused a rather large explosion, cracking the overhead. The cracks started to drip water as they grew.

Helping Kitty to her feet, "Time to go. We have to get the hell out of here." he said quickly, worry in his voice.

" _ **NO! It will not end like this. We only wished to save your race from what is coming!**_ " A new voice lanced though their minds. It seemed to be softer but had no dominance over them, unlike the previous voice. The Commander suddenly had an image of a cartoon Red Man, hair black as night, a curled tuft of hair on his chin, pointed ears, a frilly collar, lace around his waist, his suit reminding someone of Santa, followed by a lovely pair of thigh high boots. He had lobster claw hands for some reason. They called this creature only 'HIM'.

"Just what we need, the Powerpuff girls showing up." He said, turning to see the floating creature behind them. "Where is Bubbles?" He yelled back in response "Maybe Buttercup or Blossom should be here fighting you!"

" _ **We could have saved your race. Made your race the saviors of the galaxy**_ " the sultry voice said once more.

"Yeah, right, we saw right through your sorry ass and kicked it. We'll kick these new guys, too." The Commander shot back as the team ran. One thing the Commander noted, they were not being chased. The Connection felt strong to the body, but was there something wrong with the psionic network? Nevertheless, this was not a fighting withdrawal, this was an all-out dash.

" _ **You are our greatest weapon. In anyone else's hands, you will be a threat but in our own hands, you will be a savior. Choose us and all will be forgiven.**_ " The sultry voice once again responded.

The Commander snorted "Great, just stuck talking to the automated line. Can I press zero for the operator now?" He laughed "Hello, Operator? No, thanks! I'll skip the buffet again! It didn't sit well with my stomach, you see. I'll just have to leave a one-star yelp review. See yah!" he said with a wave of his hand to finish the good-bye.

He turned to leave when he saw the Specter of the Ethereal reach out with a powerful psi-lance.

"Oh, you just didn't fling that DBZ crap at me!" With a snap of his arm, he felt the psi energy from the Ethereal reach out to him. He snarled as he projected his own.

"Kaaaaaaaammmmmeeeeeeehhhhhhhhaaaaaammmmmeeeeeeeehhhhhhaaaaa!" He screamed.

" _ **You have chosen poorly. Too bad, we will clear this stain from this planet. If you will not join us, then you will die.**_ "

"I hope you enjoy Hell because that is where you are going." The Commander yelled back as he saw the last of his team dive through the portal. At the same time, the Commander started to modulate the psi energy. This caused an explosion that rocked the room. The Commander's avatar flew back through the portal. The last thing he saw was the tidal wave that was taking the base.

With the connection cut to the Avatar body, he had a moment to review what happened when that creature that was not an Elder had dumped all that data into his mind. The only words that came to mind was _oh, shit._

The Commander focused his eyes above him as his connection to the Avatar body was cut as the underwater base exploded. "Did…?" the Commander's voice rasped out in his status suit.

"You did it, Commander. Everyone came home safely. All over the world, ADVENT is crumbling as everyone is rising up and taking back their lives." Central Officer Bradford said. (1)

The Commander started to sit up. His hands were shaking slightly "No. We need Advent or something like it. We need a united government. We need the shock troopers that Advent has."

The three resistance fighters that were hovering over their beloved Commander looked shocked. "Shen! Did something else come back into the Commander?" Bradford asked. Lily Shen darted over to her console and started typing.

"No, John. I am myself." He looked at the grizzled war veteran. "Something is coming for us. I know why the Elders came to us now. This is way beyond wanting to save their race." The Commander stood up and ran a hand though his thinning hair and looked right into John Bradford's eyes. "The Elders wanted to save themselves but beyond that, they wanted to avenge their race. They have been running for over a hundred thousand years. They were known as Inusannon. Their empire spanned the Galaxy when they were attacked by a race that was overwhelmingly more powerful than they were. They reaped the galaxy and then removed all works of the Inusannon. The few Elders we have here were in deep space when their race was attacked. They were exploring areas beyond…" The Commander paused as he tried to think how to explain it

"...Mass lightening devices connected system after system. The element that they used is very useful but the problem is they never looked beyond it. Much of their tech was based around it. It made them easy pickings. They managed to stay in deep space while their race fell and to finish their development into Plasma but by then it was too late." He looked at his two top researchers "Do not only use this element when we can find it."

The Commander sighed as he poured himself a glass of water. "I wonder if Ramex has some of that rotgut made yet." He said mostly to himself.

"The Elders spent the next few years perfecting their cloning to extend their lives. They figured out how to clone their bodies and transfer their consciousnesses. Much like the Asgard did in that old show SG-1. They are having clone degradation, too." Bradford smiled slightly at that. "They then went and found races that had potential. The Sectoids came willingly as did the Mutons because they were fed lies. The Vipers were on the edge of death due to their sun dying so, of course, they were willing. The Floaters were a mash up of Sectiods and Cydonians, a race of naturally evolving silicon-based lifeforms that we think of as of AI and the Outsiders were an attempt to create a method to project themselves like the Avatar project was."

"I cannot impress upon each of you enough that the race that culled them had a fleet of warships that numbered in the millions. As far and as long as the Elders searched, they never found a race that they felt could face them. When the Elders found the Protheans, they already were space faring and had a small empire. When the Reapers arrived, they had an empire that spanned the galaxy. All became Prothean, culturally, regardless of their race. One way of thinking meant that they fell even faster than the Inusannon did."

After taking a calming breath, the Commander spoke again "Then about twenty thousand years ago, they found a race known as the Rachni. These became the Chryssalids we faced. However, in the process of sampling the DNA from them, a beacon was found and corrupted a few of the Rachni. These somehow slipped out. From what the Elders had found, the Rachni were found by a group of races that led to Galactic war. The Elders rejected these new races because they had fallen into the False Gods' path."

The Commander looked at Shen, Tygan and then Bradford. "What the Elders found in humans is the piece of the puzzle they were missing. In our DNA is a latent psionic power that rivals their own. Every race that they enslaved had some sort of Psionic ability."

The Commander took a drink of water. "It is this psionic ability that the Elders wanted. With our DNA providing the structure of their new bodies, leading those that they did not take, the Elders felt that our race could face these reapers of races and end the threat. Sometime in the next two hundred to five hundred years, we are due for another reaping. Knowing humanity's luck, it will be closer to two hundred."

The Commander placed his hands on the table. "If we can find a way to make ADVENT shock troopers without stealing Human life to make them, hell, if we could turn all of the invaders into shock troops, that would be ideal." He shook his head slightly. "And on top of that, I am sure that the Elders will return. We must have a plan for them _and_ the Reapers. We also must get this information out to the public quickly. This will help push the anger from ADVENT to the reapers and maybe, just MAYBE, give us a united front to face them."

"Bradford, get me all the local resistance commanders on the line. We must meet in two hours. Tygan and Shen, see if the data we need on the Reapers is in that thing" He pointed to the gate. "Find it so we can release it to the public. We have to prepare for the next invasions."

The Commander took a breath. "There is something else, there is a reason that the Elders base was under Earth's own oceans. The Elders were looking for something, something that crashed here 65 million years ago." He snorted. "Ironic that we owe our very existence to an alien race that crashed. We must be on guard for anything. Being almost melted down into goo tends to make any race rather pissed off, so I don't think there will be much trouble staying alert from Humanity."

There was an alert on a panel next to the young engineer, the young girl who knew her craft inside and out. "Commander, you better take a look at this." Shen said, urgency in her voice.

The Commander turned to see what she was showing. More than The Skirmishers had rebelled. The image showed a city block, several cars parked on the side of the road. On the far side of the image, ADVENT troopers were forcing humans into a van by the river. There was a lance of green and then the officer dropped. The other troopers started to look around for a threat.

With a cry of shock, one trooper screamed. Around his waist was a tongue and a moment later he was yanked into the darkness. From the other side of the van, next to a building, burst out three Mutons. Everyone was so sure that that they would help the ADVENT Troopers that everyone missed the moment they slid their blades into the troopers' backs.

The Mutons raised their hands up then and turned to the humans. Slowly, the lead Muton bent down to the dead officer and picked up a cuff. He pressed a button, causing the cuffs to drop. He motioned for them to come on before turning and walking away. Behind him, the two Mutons and two vipers followed.

"Well, I'll be damned." Said Bradford

"The possibilities of this are intriguing." Mumbled Tygan

"Ok, that's something we need to sort out. We will have to train our own Psionics then to scan their minds." The Commander said with a nod. "After we finish the debrief and the meeting with the Rebel Leaders, I am ordering XCOM to stand down for forty eight hours. Keep guard rotation up, but everyone can let their hair down for a bit. Remember, we are watching." The Commander finished with a straight face.

Bradford rolled his eyes as he left the room. "Aye, Commander."

(1) From XCOM 2


	2. Chapter 2: Why so alone?

**A/N: I still don't own anything.**

 **Earth, June 2036**

In Houston, formerly part of the state of Texas, a group of NASA officials were meeting as XCOM forces were pushing back ADVENT. NASA was the group that took over the global satellites after the turnover to ADVENT. While quite a few of them were ran by the government only, there was still quite the call for Civilian satellites. Ten years ago, NASA had convinced ADVENT that a Mars program called Ares could do wonders to help unite Humanity and ensure NASA's continuation.

There were five planned missions to Mars under the Ares program. Currently, this meeting was to discuss yet another trouble with the third mission. One crew member was stranded on Mars and they had five more on their way back to rescue him in the Hermes, a craft built for the missions to Mars. ADVENT could have rescued from Mars, but the Elders declared it a human problem, thus humans should solve it.

With the fall of ADVENT, the situation had changed. The conversation went for another hour as they discussed the pros and cons about telling the crew of the Hermes, about the fall of the government.

The only real concern is the stranded person on Mars. Shortly after landing, the Ares 3 crew had to abort their mission due to wind. Well, this person was presumed dead when a communication dish impaled him and threw him away from the crew. They did get communication back shortly, but the old probe that he had found burnt out. NASA could only watch as they followed his thirty-two-thousand-kilometer drive from the Ares 3 landing site to the Ares 4 landing site.

"I know my stance about Mark was tell the crew, but they don't need to know about the Government shift." Said Mitch Henderson, a man that looked like Sean Bean, but strangely, still alive.

Vincent Kapoor, a man that looked quite a bit like Chiwetel Ejiofor, nodded his head "He is right Teddy, in this case the change of Government will cause them undo worry."

While this conversation was going on, there was someone who knew what it was like to be the single occupant of a planet. Millions of kilometers away from Houston, this person drove a car, or rather a rover. This rover was rather changed from the normal Martian rovers. This one towed a second rover that had a hole in the roof. In this roof was a balloon of sorts that held the vital machine to keep the sole living being on the planet alive.

As Mark Watney neared his destination, he took care in his actions. He ensured that every turn was slow, every rise or slope, he thought his actions though. As he came over a ramp, into what he called Entrance Ramp, the hard soil gave way. The rovers left front wheel sank. The rover suddenly tilted, bringing the rover to a sharp angle. This caused the left rear wheel to slip as it bore the weight of the rover. Before anyone could react, the rover tumbled. Solar Cells fell from the trailer, shattering several on impact with the ground. The hitch that connected trailer to the main rover sheared away as they rolled from each other.

As the trailer slid down the hill, free of the rover, it started to turn. Perhaps on another Mars, the sand would have made a perfect ramp or perhaps there was nothing under the sand, but on this Mars, the item in the balloon, the oxygenator, caught something under the sand. The pull of the rock caused the oxygenator to slam into the side of the rover. This caused the trailer to tumble once more.

As the trailer spun, it found more soft sand. It landed on the roof. If the oxygenator had not already weakened the balloon, it might have simply expanded with the weight of the trailer. The trailer however forced the air out though the separated fibers of Hab Canvass that made the balloon. Like in the hab so many Sols ago, fibers split and with a rent of fabric, the balloon burst.

The rover seemed to fare better as it rolled several times before slamming its roof down at the bottom of the Ramp. The sudden jarring weight of the rover was too much for the rock under it though. In other universes, this crater had nothing but solid rock under it. But on this Mars, it gave way, crumbling around the rover. The driver who had thought he was safe, had started to sit up, when found himself weightless as the ground gave way.

The driver of the rover swore as he saw though the front of the rover that he was falling, this was more of an issue to him than the fact that he was floating. The rover fell over a hundred meters before it softly landed on a platform. The driver was alive, for now.

Back on Earth, the door to the conference room burst open as an out of breath blond woman burst into the room. "I think Mark is dead." Mindy Park said, rushing to the projector.

The image she displayed showed the overturned trailer and the hole at the bottom of the ramp. "Jesus," Mitch said. "What the hell happened?"

"The trailer is upside down and I think the rover rolled and caused a cave in." Mindy said, her voice quivering as tears streaked her cheeks.

"Is this the entire crash site?" Bruce Ng, [the director of JPL] asked

"I think so," Mindy said." Up toward the top photo, which is north, there are ordinary wheel tracks. Right here," she pointed to a large disturbance in the soil, "is where things went wrong. Judging from where that ditch is, I'd say the rover rolled from there." (1)

"This is as bad as it looks." Bruce said. He got up to point to the photo. "While the rover is designed to handle a roll, the modifications to the trailer appear to have caused an issue. You see here, this is a starburst pattern. We lost pressure in the trailer. If Mark somehow climbs out of this cave in, he might not have a way to create oxygen. I am afraid Mark will die of CO2 poisoning."

"Last time, we declared Mark dead. That was a hasty call. Tomorrow, we want to release these photos with a statement to the press saying that we do not know if Mark is alive or dead. Until we find a body this time, Mark is simply missing. A future mission can be done to check out the cave in and perhaps retrieve his body." The director of NASA, Teddy Sanders, said. "I will personally inform the Hermes after I return from visiting his parents again. When I get back, find out how the hell we didn't know that the ground was not solid there!"

Within the crashed Rover, Mark picked himself off the floor. Somehow the rover landed on its wheels. Mark turned on the front lamps of the rover and what he saw made his heart race, his mouth went dry and for once, Watney had no words. His mouth moved several times as he tried to speak but speech was lost for before him was clearly a craft in front of the rover. In other universes, the team that had broken through the roof of the hanger would have had a radio to contact for help. In this universe, the only person on the planet did what any other human would do. He had to touch it.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 498**

For future Mars historians, once again, I did not die on Mars. I fell in this cave that you found the rover in. Now I am totally confused. Gravity is a constant, even on Mars. The rover lightly landed after falling what looks like dozens of meters. That is something that should not have happened. Perhaps some sort of force field lowered the rover to the ground?

Another item of note, there is clearly a ship in the cave with me. This craft does not appear to be ADVENT, Human, or Elder made. Are millions of conspiracy theorists correct about the face on Mars? The ship I can see, it looks to be about a hundred meters. It looks like someone built a rounded box of some sort and slapped another box on top. The lighting is not the best here, but it looks dark, maybe black with some sort of green lines.

I don't know who made it, but I am about to find out! In case I do not return, and by some miracle that the crew is still alive, please remind the crew that none of this was their fault. Please tell my parents that I love them.

This is Mark Watney signing off. Wish me luck!

He quickly donned his space suit before stepping into the airlock of the rover. After stepping out, he looked up and swore. The hole was at the top of what he assumed was a hanger.

"How the fuck am I going to reach that?" He asked himself, looking up the best he can in the bulky spacesuit, but it seems that kind of movement was not what the designers had in mind. He contorted his neck to get a better view on the small looking hole in the roof.

Turning he looked at the ship. "If watching shitty seventies TV has taught me anything, I should make sure you are not really a probe for Venus and crash landed on the wrong planet. Go, Steve Austin." He chuckled as he walked under the ship, his hand running across the hull. His fingers fell into a groove that ran the length of the wing. He was right when he logged the ship was black. The grooves were painted green.

As he reached the front of the ship, he took sight of what was in front of him. Clearly this room was a hanger. About ten meters above the floor were large bay windows. He could see what looked like tables or controls, but he was not very sure from this angle. He noted that there was a large door directly in front of the ship. Perhaps for cargo. He noticed strange carvings on the door and below the big window.

He walked slowly up to the big door and ran his hand over the seam. The door looked sealed tight. Whatever it was or however old it was, this place was locked down still. He took a step back and looked at the carvings. Was this their language? He ran one finger over the carvings, nearly touching them.

With a frown he started to trace them, hoping something would activate. He placed his left hand right above the carvings as he leaned on the wall to check out what he thought was a divot in the stone.

The luck gods or perhaps it was Mars, the God of War, himself blessing Mark, but the astronaut had placed his hand on the activation for the door. Mark fell back and landed on his backside as he tried to get away from the now opening door.

"You would think that with ADVENT and the Elders, we would know what to do if we found aliens here, but nope. Not a word." Watney mumbled as he picked himself off the ground. Brushing dust from his suit, he noticed that the room before him had no apparent dust. There was a soft blue and white light flashing on one side. Mark slowly walked in.

Once he passed the door, it started to close. Mark's breathing picked up for a moment before calming himself. "Just an airlock, Watney, get a hold of yourself. What would James Bond do here?" He smiled. "Sean Connery would strut in with his accent and say, _hello ladies, look at your man. Now look at me. Look at your man. Does your man look as good as me_?" he finished in a fake British accent, but not a good one. The one that makes you want to strangle someone for murdering it kind.

He walked over to the light and looked again for a button or something to press but once the outer door closed, the room seemed to go still for a moment before he felt the fabric of his suit start to move. "Damn it, I should have brought the other suit" he said. "They only work to see what the air is on the inside."

After a minute, the inner door opened. Before him was clearly a storage center. There were at least several dozen rows of boxes stacked, maybe a dozen or more meters high. They reminded him of cargo pods of some sort, but he could not tell because the top as his light did not reach. He then stepped out of the airlock, which slowly closed behind him. He turned to the right and saw that it was rather dark.

"How big is this place?" he wondered around before turning left. He saw a light flashing. He stepped up to it. This light was flashing yellow and green. He shrugged and pressed the light. The door slid open. "This is almost too easy." He whispered.

The door opened into a hallway that seemed to curve up. Mark could tell due to the light strips on the floor. It was almost as if he was being lead somewhere. The walls themselves had paintings on them. He made sure that his camera was recording what looked like huge cuttlefish shooting beams of light out of its mouth that tore through ships.

Then he noted as he felt the rise in the floor, several creatures led by some sort of green, four-eyed alien once again failing as they battled on the ground. The platform leveled out for a moment, the images advancing to them being forced into one of the cuttlefish's mouths.

Perhaps in another universe, thanks to the Reapers seeding small rocks that jump started the indoctrination, an indoctrinated agent would have failed to notice the hidden hall but in this one, Mark Watney was not such an agent. The hall ended with an empty table. With a shake of his head, he turned only to find a force field blocking his path out.

"The Six Million Dollar Man didn't have to deal with forcefields when he fought his Venus probe!" Mark exclaimed before turning around. "Or perhaps Bond was a better choice." He whispered. Before him was a projected text in a green mist. Clearly, this was a holographic projection.

 **Hello Mark Watney, I am the Prothean AI Hope. As the last Hope of my creators' entire race, I was placed here to help guide the race from the third planet. To talk to me, please use the keyboard on the table**

With shaking hands, Mark sat down at the table and typed: How can we talk?

 **I have analyzed the computer in your rover. As the video recordings, were clearly was entertainment in nature. I need more time to learn how to speak your primary language.**

Mark smiled at that before typing: I've been stranded here for a very long time. I fell through the roof and now I am trapped. Do you have a way out?

 **There is not enough power to operate the bay doors. I am not at full power either. There are repairs that must be made. This method of information transmission is too primitive.**

Before Mark's eyes, the hall opened. Swallowing his dry mouth, he stood up and stepped into the new chamber. In the center of the chamber was a huge stone column but it was not a natural formation. There were lights on it that flickered for a moment before shutting off. He felt something drawing him closer before a green light scanned his body.

He walked foreword after the scan and pressed his gloved hand into the socket that looked like a hand should go. Mark being underfed had caused a weakness to his body but in this case, it was a good thing as the nerves were closer to the surface. His hand also being gloved provided another layer of protection. The glove interfered with the transmission, imposing a lower bandwidth that slowed the information flow in such a way that his primitive mind could understand it. If he had been a fully awakened psionic, his mind would of rejected the connection because of the rigid nature of normal psionic shields.

Understand it he did. He watched in horror the real scenes depicted on the walls came to life. These invading ships looked like giant cuttlefish shaped ships, the same ships that were on the walls, invaded the galaxy. The invader ships did not even pause as they shredded fleets of Prothean ships. He saw other races that were dressed in Prothean armor being placed on spikes before turning into some horrible cyborg. He felt his mind expanding as languages were inserted into his brain. He pulled his hand back, gasping. He looked around and he saw a screen.

As he walked up to it, he realized that he could read the script now. This was telling him that the room was breathable. Slowly, he removed his helmet, a little leery of not being able to breath. A few test breaths later, he sat his helmet down.

As he sat down, a ball of light appeared in the middle of the room. "Now that you can understand me, we can work on extracting what you need from the beacon" the ball voiced in a true High Prothean accent.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 502**

The last few days have done nothing but blow my mind. These Protheans were a race of freaking locusts, basically. They came to your world. You bowed as a slave caste or you died. When, like all dictatorships, they met one stronger than them, they folded like a house of cards. The next issue is slightly a problem.

When the Protheans obtained spaceflight, they found relays. They used something that is like an element but it's more like a substance. It appears in some systems, in others it doesn't. Apparently, there is none in Sol. But they use this Element Zero to make a ship's mass lighter; these relays send ships faster than light. They use this element to get around relativity. This is where the problem comes in. This dependence on that technology made the Protheans easy targets. We should try not to fall into the same trap.

Apparently Protheans had some form of touch telepathy, thus they set their beacons to work that way. This was rather stupid of them since they did want to warn others. For once, I am glad I am half-starved. Hope told me after a medical scan that if I had been healthy, she didn't think that I would have been able to access their beacon through touch. Even then, my suit's glove helped slow the data stream down so my brain wasn't fried. Yay.

This place is a gold mine of information. Some of the things we could do with this tech. Perhaps ADVENT will come in and keep us from learning the cool things but perhaps some nerd will find a use for this stuff. One of the things that blew my mind was the creation of an honest to god Artificial Intelligence. She informed me that she was based off several brains of the Protheans. AI creation was outlawed in Prothean space but, with the fall of their empire, they felt it necessary.

The next pressing need: food. Hope provided some seeds. I can grow something called Krognak rather quickly. From what Hope told me, it's a plant that can grow in 50 days. The scary thing is I run out of potatoes on SOL 552. That is cutting it extremely close but at least I won't starve.

There are repairs to be made here. The power plant is not online, causing this place to run on backups. These backups are almost out of fuel. Guess my engineering background will come in handy once more as I fix pieces of broken junk and turn them into things they never were intended to be used as.

Another problem is that the long-range communications array is also offline. Hope does not know if it is simply buried or broken. Alas, getting to it and clearing the sand away or repairing it is well outside of my reach. Fifty thousand years of sand. I don't know if I could even find that dish.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 505**

We did find a problem today. Hope was doing a more in-depth scan of that good old grey matter. We were a little concerned that the lack of food might have caused some damage. Well, I laid down on some soft bed. Lo and behold, I saw my brain.

Aside from being too thin, I was somewhat healthy. If I wanted to do some repairs, I needed to have Element Zero in my blood. Alas, my body right now would burn itself up trying to accept it. I just do not have the calories to eat right now. If I do have this element in my blood, I'll need to eat, at minimum, 3,000 calories a day. Right now, I am eating 1,200 a day.

That brought up a new challenge. Apparently, if I became too healthy, I would lose my ability to connect to the beacon. Well shit. That thing is my best way out of here.

Hope then came up with a cunning plan.

I am going to replace my crewmate Vogel as a German Super villain! Hope will inject my blood with Element Zero and then activate some dormant genes in my DNA to partly awaken my psionic abilities.

From what Hope can tell about my DNA, is that all humans have potential to be psionic. What degree this is, well it depends on evolution. She thinks humans can project things with their minds, take control of others, hell, she thinks we can become Jedi!

But anyway, back to what she can do for me. What Hope hopes to do (see what I did there?) is turn on my touch telepathy in my left hand only. Thanks to ADVENT, I already had some gene mods installed. Hope just backwards engineered my own mods. How cool is that?

My body needs to be healthy to accept the Element Zero and the virus that will activate my DNA. So that will have to wait until I am eating more food. I started to grow some Frug today. The image Hope showed me makes me think of Pomegranates. I also started several other crops. Hopefully, this will allow me to get my caloric intake above 3K.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 515**

I really need to be better about making these logs. There is just so much to learn here. I've been diving into the history of these Protheans. They were a very paranoid race, more so at the end. Rightfully so.

The empire had become so rife with indoctrinated agents, that they created a way to tell if someone had the taint of the Reapers upon them. If Hope detected this, she was to self-destruct and take most of the information in the beacon with her.

What is indoctrination, you ask? Simply put, you lose all your free will. You live to serve the Reapers and then you die. Families murdered by loved ones, ships turning on each other, suicide bombers and the like. The worst is when leaders are indoctrinated. They pass more and more laws that end up helping the Reapers.

The scientists here had abandoned the base once, shortly after the Reapers arrived in the galaxy, by order of their Emperor. The next problem they had was the relay itself. It is encased in a ball of ice. Several wanted to activate it, but Jellyfish had grown leary of it. After a year of traveling faster than light, they returned home. What they found was nothing but devastation.

The leader of these scientists and their families was an odd fellow, even for their standards. They nicknamed him the Prothean word for Jellyfish because of how much he loved them. He even had one in a fish tank. While Protheans were warriors, the scientist caste not so much. They often were a mix of races.

So what Jellyfish did was grab a bunch of survivors and brought them back here. He also gathered as much information as he could. He ended up leaving a bunch of listening devices all over the galaxy. Thanks to the Protheans knowledge of how the gate system worked, he was able to embed a quantum entangled signal into it. He also set it so only if a gate was sending a craft would it transmit, further burying his work.

He ran into a problem when he tried to make the information transmit under the response transmission. There was a signal embedded inside the relay to protect and trust the relay. He couldn't stop the transmissions but he did hide his work in that code.

What scares me is that these devices are still active. Thousands of Relays are out there. How many are warping the minds of the travelers. There is an upside to this, the amount of data that Hope has and can call up is frankly astonishing. To think, we might have lost this edge if I had not gotten impaled by that comms dish.

Hope has not let me access that data yet. She has me learning how to power on Prothean craft. Hopefully, soon I can get that corvette working so I can leave.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 520**

Today, I left the living area of the base and put on my space suit. What I still find shocking about all of this, Hope tells me that they would have never found more than the living area and part of the beacon if the wrong person had found this.

But anyway, I checked out the corvette in the Hangar. No luck. All the Element Zero has been used up in it. Some of the damage to the ship makes me think that they blew up the hyperdrives and com systems to help hide this place.

Again, it seems that Ares 4 is my best hope to leave this place. Hopefully, my rescue attempt did not cause the cancelation of the program. Thankfully, Hope does have limited sensors so that, once we get the power conduits repaired, I'll be able to find the Hermes.

That is the next thing we are going to work on. This place fell apart over the years. Mostly the electronics. Hope had to tear apart most of the robot workers to keep herself in repair. While Jellyfish did create her, they were wary of her. They did not connect her to most of the base and coded some laws that she was to follow.

Translated, they sound a lot like the three laws of Robotics, well some debate if there is four laws or three, but in this case, they used three with the first one being a notable addition.

An Artificial Intelligence must prevent itself from being captured by the Reapers or their agents.

The AI may not allow non-indoctrinated beings harm though inaction or action.

Hope must protect its own life if it does not conflict with the first two laws.

The four laws of Robotics for those who don't know

A robot may not harm humanity or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. (2)

So, I think we are damn lucky to find another AI that is not controlled by the Elders to be so peaceful. Hopefully, Hope will bring hope. I know she has given that to me. The next scary thing is the Elders: what are they going to do with this information?

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 521**

The leaves broke free of the soil today. It really lifted my spirits to see those sprouts today. While I knew I wasn't going to starve, at least not likely, seeing those sprouts really brought a smile to my face.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 530**

Man, I miss Baseball. I really wonder how the Cubs are doing. I haven't had an update since I blew up Pathfinder.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 540**

I have been looking at the Krognak, and I am starting to worry a little. Not that the plants are unhealthy but something that might be worse.

The leaves remind me a LOT of potato leaves. I hope they are not potatoes. Every fiber of my being is screaming in hope that they do not turn into potatoes

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 545**

I know I haven't been logging much but all I am really doing is growing my crops and learning from Hope. I am still thin but once I harvest Krognak, I can start eating more.

God, it will be so hard not just to eat everything I can. Sadly, I can only eat so much once we have the extra food. My stomach will reject it and I'll be worse than before. So, slowly, I must raise my intake of food.

So, every few days, I'll be adding calories until I am healthy. Thankfully, my vitamins are fine. I just need to add more food to gain weight. Shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 months.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 550**

So today is the first harvest! After so many meals of potatoes and you guessed it, more potatoes, I am so sick of them. I ran out of anything to make the potatoes better a long time ago.

God, I am almost salivating at eating something besides plain potatoes. I still haven't found anything that I could make to drink with it, but perhaps once the leaves are dry I could make a tea.

Hope has taught me so much. Once I start getting some bulk back on me, we will start repairing the station. The maths involved with this element, they were so over my head it was not funny.

Once it was "dumbed down so an ape could understand it" and a few more visits to the beacon, I started to understand it. Why hasn't Hope just dumped it in my brain, you ask? Well, that is a good question future Mars historian.

Well, it is simple. It would kill me. I barely have compatibility with the system as it is. Come to find out, the gene modding I already had did play a key part in saving my life. As I said before, I need to be healthy to get gene modded the rest of the way. This results in the need to get fully healthy to get all the download.

I am off to harvest and eat something besides potatoes since Sol 300.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 550, 2**

PO-TAT-OES. I grew fucking potatoes. As a botanist, I KNEW they were potatoes, but I didn't want to believe it. The worst thing is that I must wait even longer to eat something else. The other plants won't be ready for another 75 Sols. It pains me to have to wait

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 555**

Salt. Thank the heavens I found Prothean salt. Not that bad salt on the surface. No more bland potatoes! Not only that, it will help me keep on weight a bit. Honestly, just having a sprinkle of salt on these things right now is heaven on Mars right now.

Now that I am eating more, Hope is showing me the plan to make my left hand compatible with the Protheans. The Elders' gene mods are turning out to be a godsend right now. All she must do now is insert a tiny bit of Prothean DNA, wrapped up in Element Zero, with a nanite shell.

After that, I'll be part Prothean. Take that, Steve Austin. You might have got the girls, but I'm part alien now. That reminds me, before any of you readers start expecting to hear I had an alien burst out of my chest, there is none of that going on here. Gene mods, well they drilled that into our heads because if something was wrong, we might need to change them or worse someone was hurt.

Let me tell you, the science is sound. It's just like any other mod back home. I'll just be using it in ways that we didn't intend but are damn cool. This also brings up another point. Hope is based on that Jellyfish Prothean, the one that couldn't leave Kahje alone apparently. He thought that the jellyfish are thinking beings. He said that he left something to help them rise above the water.

Anyway, that is extremely old history and probably nothing became of it. Hope is based on his brain scan. Because some humans can accept gene mods, I hypothesize that we can upload human brains into a matrix like hers. Likely smaller. It's just a theory right now.

Sigh. The next few months really is nothing but eat potatoes, read what Hope gives me, and watch more shitty 70's TV. Why not watch something Prothean? Good question, my friend.

It must be one of the most nauseating things I've tried to watch. Trying to watch something when the main species has four perspectives because they had four eyes is not pleasant. I lived through the vomit comet back on Earth with only a little of my lunch spilled. This thing within 15 seconds had me doubled over and making like Mount St. Helens. The less said on that the better.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 605**

Dear logs, I am sorry that I have not been writing in you but there is little to say other than I ate potatoes, worked out, learned from Hope, and planned how to get short range coms back up.

We think that once we can do the gene upgrade, I can build some short-range antenna that will allow Hope to access the Mars satellite network. From there, I can message NASA since it is their network. I am sure there will be a rush to recover this site once they hear from me.

So, yeah, that's the plan and my way home. NASA sends a recovery team and I leave with them. They probably could even send a team with Ares 4. It's not like they need to bring much as there is already a habitat for them and plenty of food could be grown for them. NASA might just send food anyway to make sure.

Off to watch some Dukes of Hazzard again. I still can't get over how stupid Rosco is. Just arrest those Duke boys OUTSIDE the car.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 615**

Hope declared me fit enough to not burn out from Element Zero poisoning a few minutes ago. So, after this entry, I'll be injected with alien goo and I'll be happy to be probed. Hold it, not that kind of probe.

Wait, god damn it. Months ago, I made some stupid comment about the Princess of Mars, who did in fact kidnap me. Damn my bad luck, no love making yet.

Well, I am off to get probed by an alien race but for science!

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 616**

After sleeping off the injections, I woke up this morning needing to eat everything I could. I think I was on my fourth potato before I slowed down enough to ask Hope why I was so hungry. She told me eezo users just needed more to power the element.

So, now, I can go into eating contests and win. Go, strange element that betrays physics and did I mention a trap? Can we stress that again, this tech is nothing but a trap! Once cultures start using it, they become reliant upon it. Then the Reapers would use items to make minds malleable. They would then suggest laws that would cause further weakening of the leadership.

Let's make sure that this doesn't happen to mankind, even with the Elders' help. Before I can access the beacon, I need to adjust to the genes. Give me a few days.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 619**

For the love of god, I've got to have this gene removed. How could the Protheans stand knowing the history of EVERY single object they touched. I swear I heard Hope laugh after I touched the food prep countertop. Another case where the less said, the better.

For now, I've taken to wearing my space suit's glove to protect it. After I learned that item's history, I am ok with touching it.

 **LOG ENTRY: SOL 630**

Today, I placed our new dish below the hole I made. Thanks to a touch of eezo or Element Zero as that just takes too damn long to type, I had enough pirate-ninjas (Kilowatt-hours per sol if you remember) now to allow it to transmit.

I set it off and it lifted out of my hole and into orbit. Hope is now trying to make our new friend in orbit say "Hello Friends" to everyone around him. Even for an AI, it takes time to find the right language to talk in.

Vincent Kapoor walked up the stairs in the middle of NASA on his way to his office. He smiled at the woman riding the escalator down. In one hand was a briefcase and keys in the other. After entering his office, he dropped the keys on the desk before sitting behind his computer.

After logging in, he opened his e-mail to let it start processing his e-mail into its folders. He opened a drawer to pull out his coffee cup, his notepad and a pen. He took his cup to the coffee machine and quickly filled it before returning. He brought the cup to his lips and froze as he brought up his e-mail program. At the top was an e-mail that had a senders' email of MarkWatneyIsAlive at Mars dot advent dot gov. In the subject field, the words Video from Mark Watney was written.

He wondered how it got though the spam filters as he picked up his phone. After quickly putting in the digits for the IT help desk, he raised the phone to his ear.

"This is Vincent Kapoor. I think someone sent me a virus in my e-mail. Can you check it out?" he asked

"One moment, Mr. Kapoor. Running virus scan on your folder now." Said the tech. "It comes back clean. If it is a virus, you have found a day 0 virus… Sir, I am going to have to flag this to the System Admins. I am sorry, Sir, I am going to force you out of all of your logins."

With a sigh, Vincent brought his hand to his forehead. "Very well. "

On the computer screen the screen changed, a finger popping up while in the background was a blue screen with the words " **YOU DIDN'T SAY THE MAGIC WORD** **!** " The tech rolled his eyes as his screen changed, turning blue as well.

"Well, sir, it appears to be spreading." The tech groaned.

Three hours later, the Director of NASA was sitting in the conference room next to his office. Before him were the director of IT, several System Administrators, and a few of the directors that also were affected by the taunting blue screen O' death as the SysAdmins called it. They wanted to know what everyone had in common. On the screen next to the table was the Director of JPL. His computer also was infected which prohibited him from projecting himself into the meeting.

"Alright, Andrew, tell me what is going on with my network." Teddy asked.

Andrew opened his mouth to respond but his voice was drowned out by a rather upbeat song. The drums started to beat, a woman started to hum in the background.

Happy Days

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days,

Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days,

Thursday, Friday, Happy Days,

Saturday, what a day,

Rockin all week with you.

This day is ours

Won't you be mine. (Oh Happy Days)

This day is ours (Oh Happy Days)

Oh please be mine.

Hello sunshine, goodbye rain,

She's wearing my high school ring on her chain.

She's my steady, I'm her man,

I'm gonna love her all I can.

[Chorus]

Gonna cruise her round the town,

Show everybody what I've found

Rock'n'roll with all my friends

Hopin' the music never ends.

These Happy Days are yours and mine (oh Happy Days)

These Happy Days are yours and mine (oh Happy Days)

These Happy Days are yours and mine, Happy Days. (3)

"Andrew!" Teddy bellowed over the song. "What is going on?"

Andrew was already typing at the computer terminal in front of him. "Teddy, I am actually locked out of the system" He yelled back. He picked up his mobile as he pushed himself away from the desk. He flicked his finger to unlock it only to find the opening video from Happy Days on his phone, in perfect sync with the song. He slid it to Teddy to show him.

Teddy slid his hand over his face. ADVENT had been killing humans, but they also brought order. Before ADVENT's fall, hacking had been a problem of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Only XCOM had dared to hack things but never like this. Now it seemed, the old hacking days were back.

Once the song ended, a voice came over the speakers. They knew that voice, it was Mark Watney. Vincent felt his anger at hearing that voice. How dare they use his voice. He took a breath to say something, but he then realized that this was one of Mark's logs

"Six days into what should have been the greatest two months of my life, and it's turned into a nightmare.

I don't even know who'll read this. I guess someone will find it eventually. Maybe a hundred years from now. For the record, I did not die on Sol 498. Certainly, the rest of the crew thought I did and I can't blame them. Maybe there'll be a day of national mourning for me, and my Wikipedia page will say 'Mark Watney is the only human being to have died on Mars.'

And it'll be right, probably. 'Cause I'll surely die here. Just not on Sol 498 when everyone thinks I did. Let's see…where do I begin?" (1)

Suddenly, at the end of the table, one of the holo-emitters come to life. In the projection stood Mark Watney, in an outfit that no one recognized.

The image started to speak. "It started with my rover losing traction and falling in a hole. I thought I was dead as the rover fell. Turns out, I might have found another great discovery and a great horror. In case I don't make it or for some reason NASA thinks Mars is too expensive now, well, look at this."

Before Mark was displayed the Prothean corvette, a display of the composition of Element Zero, and some of the math behind using it. However, below that, the image changed. Mark shrunk and took on a cartoon look. He also took on a black and white appearance, his clothes also changing to something out of the nineteen fifties farmer wear and his voice changed slightly to fit the style.

"Hello, boys and girls of Earth. My name is Mark Watney. You might remember me from tales such as: How to live though impalement. The thrilling tale of How to grow Potatoes in your own shit, and my latest crime drama, How to Live When You Fall in a Dark Hole." Mark said with a sly grin on his face.

There was a chuckle from several around the room. An aide opened the door. "Sir, the virus has spread. It's being projected on all the common screens. This is also being broadcast to the world, but, again, only if there is someone around the screens. It is even being broadcast to the ADVENT races containment sites."

Teddy looked at Andrew. "Do you understand this math?" He asked.

Andrew shook his head "This is beyond what I know or have seen. Bruce, what about you?" He asked the head of JPL.

Bruce was shaking his head slightly. His blue screen hadn't changed. "Let me get some of my engineers in here." He said as he left the frame.

On the table, Mark said "Now, children, it's best you settle down now. You can look at the pretty pictures later. There is very important information. There's a good lad, now, pull up a chair for your friends."

Bruce had just entered his office with three engineers. They froze as the image spoke to them. "Yes, you, everyone else is listening, be good lads and sit down. Now, where was I?" He paused as the algorithm that pulled the script worked. They could transmit data to NASA, but NASA didn't have the ability to have faster communications with Mars and Hope did not want ADVENT stopping the broadcast, so it was better to go with a prerecorded message with script prompts. All over the world, human made devices were displaying Mark's message.

"Oh yes, Children, there is another race of aliens out there. But these aliens are not nice like the Elders appear to be." He paused as he took a breath, a chalkboard appearing behind him. He started to write "Reapers. They are a race of organic machines that want to cull the Galaxy, so machines won't kill all organic life." He said with a head shake. "That makes no sense."

A voice off camera yelled "Who did they kill last time they were here?"

"That's a good question, Tommy!" Mark said as he pointed at the camera. He reached into a bag and pulled out a model.

"This is a Prothean corvette." He said as he lifted it to the camera. "It's a small scout-like ship of their interstellar empire, or rather their remains. This craft has been hidden on Mars for around fifty thousand years."

He gave a grim smile before setting it down. He opened his hands from in front of his stomach to the sides, palms up. "What brought down this empire that spanned half the galaxy, you ask, Sally? Well, it was those pesky Reapers. That silly race of organic machines.

"Oh my gosh, I hope they are not around anymore!" a little girl's voice said off camera.

"Well, Sally, they are not gone but sleeping. These Protheans found evidence that an extinction-level event comes every fifty thousand, that's right, fifty thousand years, to all interstellar races. Well, thanks to the Elders, we are now interstellar." Mark smiled for the Camera and sighed.

"For those who think that this is a hoax, I ask, no I PLEAD with ADVENT and NASA to send a rescue mission to where my Rover fell. They will find this corvette, and myself, alive." He said with a grin.

"How are you still alive?" the little boy's voice said.

"That is a good question, Tommy. I am alive thanks to a friend I made. Her name is Hope." He said. Into the camera walked a Prothean woman.

"This is a representation of Hope. She is a true artificial intelligence created by the last of the Protheans' greatest minds. Here, she was able to nurse me back to health with food grown from seeds stored under the surface of Mars." He said, a grin on his face.

With a look of determination on his face, the human lost on Mars spoke again. "Hope only appears when it is safe for her. If you are an agent of these Reapers, think mind control, then Hope will not appear to you. She will defend her life and mine from harm" as he finished speaking, there was steel in his voice.

He smiled once more. "But this is Mark Watney signing off. Please come save me, NASA."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the computer screens went back to what they were doing before. Teddy stood up to speak when the phone started to ring. He closed his eyes and pressed the answer button.

"This is the Director of NASA, Teddy Sanders." He said

On the table, two gentlemen appeared. One had short hair that he kept in a clear military cut. He was older, clearly having seen his share of battles. He wore a green shirt and green cargo pants. He had a blade in a holster on his sleeve, a pistol on his hip. The other man was balding, had a thick goatee. He wore a blue polo shirt and black cargo pants. Like the other man, he had a pistol on his hip.

"Hello, Director. I am the Commander of the XCOM forces. This is my executive officer, General Bradford." He looked at Teddy before taking a breath. "We can confirm that what Mark Watney just said is true. There are millions of ships coming to take away our lives."

"That ADVENT is gone but first they tried to ruin what we are as a species. Thankfully, we stopped this plan, but it will take all of us to fight the Reapers. I will assign to you a small team of engineers to help recover this Prothean site. "

Teddy looked at the XCOM Commander. He knew Bradford. His face had been on wanted posters everywhere he went back when the Elders wanted to stop out all resistance to ADVENT. He nodded. "Yes Commander, I believe it will take all of us. Send the engineers to JPL, please, Commander."

The Commander nodded and ended the call. Teddy looked at the group before raising his hands, flicking his fingers. "Shoo, shoo, NASA has work to do."

Not even five minutes later, inside NASA it was almost like a bomb went off. Several department heads cursed before starting the race to save Mark again as they started to scramble.

This was as huge as finding out that we were not alone in the universe. Teddy leaned back in his chair. No, this was bigger than that.

Parts of this chapter are taken directly from the Martian by Andy Wier. Chapters 1 and 24.

Taken from the Three Laws of Robotics Wiki

Songwriters: DEREK ALLEN,BOBBY BROWN. Copyright: Walt Disney Music Company, Universal Music Publishing Group

Please note that Mark is thin due to lack of food. Not by choice. He could only afford to eat 1200 calories a day to stretch the food out for as long as he could.


	3. Chapter 3: Terror From the Deep

**Alaska, Earth, January 2045**

John Bradford stood in the snow as he looked at the structure in front of him. Leave it to the Commander to live in a bloody tent in Alaska. For a tent, it was well done. There was a stove pipe in the middle, some sort of insulating material wrapped around the tent. The roof of the tent was round, as were the walls, not that one could see the walls in the snow. The main door was cleared free of snow. John brought himself to the door and knocked.

With a jerk, the door opened. Standing in the doorway was the Commander, in a robe. He had a brown beard that reached down to the middle of his chest. The rest of his hair did not look flattering. He was effectively wearing a mullet with the hair on top of his head going very bald. With a rough voice, the kind that comes from disuse, he asked "What?" He paused for a moment, clearing his throat "oh, sorry, John. I don't get many visitors here. Please come in." He said before stepping aside to let his friend in.

"Nice tent you have, Commander." Bradford commented as he stepped in. The floors were solid wood, it seemed. The walls were white and made from fabric. There was ash latticework that wrapped around the house. The rafters were ash as well. He noted a small kitchen, a bed, and a few other things that made this place a nice studio.

After offering Bradford coffee, he took his own his coffee, the Commander looked at his friend. "What brings you here? I don't see much of the old crowd these days."

"I wish I had better news, sir. The cities of San Francisco, Sydney, and Incheon were attacked. Several million were killed or missing." John said gravely. He handed the Commander a folder. "Inside are shots of the attackers. One looks like one of the old Sectoid's, before ADVENT, just with webbed hands."

The Commander leafed through the shots, his mind working though the possibilities. "Gods damn it." He said, looking at the shot of what looked like a man in a diving suit from the early nineteen hundred's. "T'leth project." He said tapping the photo.

John signed and nodded. "That's what we think, too. ADVENT has reactivated the XCOM project." He said as he placed a rank insignia on the table. "Welcome back Commander."

"John, I am RE-TIRED. I've enjoyed being alone and off the grid for the last ten years!" The Commander said as he shook his head, his silly long hair stuck to his beard. "Twenty years in a stasis suit, with a war capping both ends. And then ADVENT is made the government, AGAIN. I'm tired, John. I was enjoying doing nothing."

John sipped his coffee as he thought for a moment. "I know, shortly after we beat the Elders, that the civilian leadership didn't believe you about a race in the ocean, much less about the Reapers. God, you would think after the Mars discovery and Mark Watney telling the whole world about them that they would have listened to you." John smiled at his friend.

"It is like as soon as they moved into those damn offices, they went from a 'let's do this thing' attitude to well the stupidity that we have always had. They even went as far as keeping the same fucking government and name. Is it no wonder I left? It was like talking to a wall." came back the Commander.

"With this attack, you were proven right about something hidden in the ocean. In the last twenty-four hours, there has been such an outcry from the public to have you reinstated, that if ADVENT didn't reactivate XCOM with you at the head, that there likely would have been another revolt." John finished with a snort.

With a sigh, the Commander stood. "Who am I to deny the will of the people. Give me a few minutes to get dressed and grab a few things."

John nodded, and watched the Commander slip away into the bathroom. An hour later stood the Commander that John remembered. His head was shaved, his beard was trimmed into a goatee and mustache. He was dressed all in black, button-down shirt and slacks. His shirt collar tips showed the Commander's rank in XCOM. He was wearing a black tie that was clipped to his shirt. On the left side hung his awards. The rows were impressive, some from the Commander's old Navy days, but the Medal of Honor given to him for his role in saving Earth was the most noticeable. As it should be.

The Commander ensured everything was shut down properly before leaving. He put on his snow suit over his uniform and then locked the door. A bag in his hand "Let's go save the world, _again_ , John" An hour later, the pair had walked to the shuttle that would take them to London.

On the short two-hour flight, he reviewed the advances of the last few years. They were following the Reapers path and they totally ignored the threat in the oceans. He let out a breath of frustration as apparently the new vogue thing was to take deep ocean cruises. It was almost like ADVENT was trying to be attacked.

He opened the files on the invaders. He sighed as he read them, found himself thinking that the invaders from the Ocean were a lot like the extra-terrestrial invasion back in twenty fifteen.

 **Aquatoid**

 _They looked like a Roswell Grey, despite the algae green skin and flippers on their hands and feet. There was a note that said that they are a strong psionic and to be wary of them._

Oh bloody hell, thought the Commander. More of this bullshit. He looked the report on the next page.

 **Aquatoid autopsy report:**

 _The detailed analysis on this creature allow us to make some basic assumptions. It is a Sectoid, our former foes, but changed by surgical methods and implants to be aquatic creature._

 _Vestigial lungs allow the breathing of air and limited surface mobility. There are cybernetic implants throughout the body, enhancing the strength of its atrophied limbs and the function of its organs._

 _As all members of this race are identical, we may hypothesise that these creatures are clones._

Well, at least that was a standard kill. Thought the Commander

 **Gillman:**

 _Almost human, a strange creature who appears to be a reptilian humanoid, very closely related to man. The creature looked like someone you would expect to find in Atlantis._

These guys must of been where Atlantis came from. The Commander wondered.

 **Gillman autopsy report:**

 _Once surgery began it became clear this is no alien, but an Earth born creature, an ancient pre-historic race that was thought destroyed at the very moment mammals became dominant._

 _In a time when dinosaurs roamed these creatures lived, the Gillmen-amphibious, intelligent and strong. The cataclysm that ended the reptile rule on this planet forced these creatures into a symbiotic relationship with the newly arrived aliens._

 _A small electronic device is lodged in the skulls of the creatures._

 **Lobsterman:**

 _This is a staggering creature, taller than a man and boasting six limbs, it resembles nothing more than an aquatic Demon. The similarities between this creature and the Earth lobster have earned it the nickname of Lobsterman with the X-Com troops._

 _This is a behemoth of the deep. A carefully designed fighting creature of incredible strength and practically invulnerable to missile fire. Its pincers alone can crush steel._

"Really, John? Lobersers? They are making us fight them?" The Commander snorted to his friend.

 **Lobsterman autopsy report:**

 _Once past its virtually indestructible shell the creature is an amazing construction. Powerful muscles ripple around a titanium skeleton, a sophisticated targeting system with multi-band scanning ability is hooked directly into the creature's brain. Its multiple eyes are protected by harder than steel plastics and it is clear that when well deployed by their masters, these creatures are all but unstoppable._

 _Buried deep in its body are devices of unknown construction and function._

 **Tasoth**

 _This prehistoric looking fish like creature is the main force of their attack. These agile and fast enemies are a mainstay of the alien army. Vastly more powerful than a man, the Tasoth is a true alien and its behaviour and carnivorous nature unmatched on the planet. The Tasoth often forms the spearhead of an alien attack and never seems to shrink from the fight, even in the face of overwhelming odds._

"Man, reminds me of a piranha, just with legs. Uggg." Bemoaned the Commander.

 **Tasoth autopsy report:**

 _Dissection revealed a cybernetic organism possessed of strange power. Inside the body cavity is a small power unit but no identifiable organs._

 _The power is transmitted throughout the body by a Bio-electric transmission system. The whole body lacks bones or any other supporting structure. Once dead, the power stops and the creature becomes a lifeless rag doll of oozing alien flesh and fluids. The only other internal construction is a pair of ceramic cells which, if energised, briefly revive the creature._

 **Terror Units:**

 **Bio-Drone:**

 _Basically a hover-tank. Can take a few hits and still return fire with high accuracy, will go down in a huge explosion like the Cyberdisc. Very dangerous. Accompanies Tasoths and Lobster Men on land._

 _The Bio-Drone is a creation only an alien mind could conceive of. It is a brain, (human or alien) suspended in amniotic fluids and connected to a powered base unit that can fly on land or below water._

 _Each Bio-Drone is armed with a powerful auditory disruptor, part machine and part organism. Some of our scientists have suggested that the weapon is driven by the host organism's original vocal cords. Highly accurate and tenacious, these super guard dogs are widely used by the aliens to protect valuable assets._

"So why do they always have to have something big that explodes when they die?" Mumbled the Commander.

 **Bio-Drone Autopsy:**

 _The hypothesis that the auditory disruptor is a biological device are true. This unfortunate creature literally screams its enemies to death. Every example has massive, surgical trauma scars and is severely mutilated. The aliens appear to butcher the brain into obedience._

 _Most of the brains used in the creatures are alien in origin, but nothing can compare to the horror of finding a human based unit. The Bio-Drones are powered by an ION engine and incorporate some form of remote control system._

 **Calcinite:**

 _Melee attack only. Looks like a diver. Comes with Aquatoids on land missions. In the diving suits of lost mariners, these aliens stalk the seabed for the unwary. A vicious swipe by the creature's stronger than steel claws can be enough to send the best divers to the bottom._

 _A gelatinous green form can be seen swirling around in the face mask. No hint of the real creature can be divined from the often lethal encounters we have had with them._

The Commander snorted "Oh so primitive Andy's got it."

 **Calcinite Autopsy Report:**

 _Once the armoured suit is stripped away, the Calcinite is revealed to be a huge amorphous blob of protoplasm. No visible brain, limbs or sensory organs exist; a small metallic component resides deep in the liquid body._

 _Once dead, we can only guess at the creature's nature. An inexplicable enigma of our alien enemies._

 **Deep One:**

 _Has a built-in ranged attack (called Electric Shock or Electric Blast) but is easily killed. Follows Gillmen on land missions. The Deep One is a biological nightmare, a cross breed, produced by the mind warping experiments of the Aquatoids. We have encountered several variations of this creature._

The image reminded the Commander of the old seventies Cylons from Battlestar Galactica. "John? Do the Deep Ones go around saying _by your command_ in battle?" Came the question from the Commander.

Bradford laughed "That would make things easier."

 _After extensive research, we conclude that these are manufactured by the invaders, swelling their ranks when fresh human stock has been captured. Each of these sub-humans is armed with an electrical energy discharge powerful enough to kill an aquanaut._

 **Deep One Autopsy Report:**

 _The creature is a graft of man and alien organism. The human brain is massively altered to accommodate control electronics and the Alien cortex. All vestiges of the human body seem lost save one: the eyes. The surgical graft appears to allow the alien foetus to consume the human host as it grows._

 _The tough skin of the creature appears to be a non-organic, metallic mesh, extremely strong and flexible. The resulting cross breed is strong, fast and utterly under the control of the aliens._

 **Hallucinoid:**

 _These large Jellyfish are deadly, and can take a surprising amount of damage. Can swim. Only on submerged missions with Aquatoids. Having harvested the oceans the aliens have bred these huge Earth creatures as a weapon. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security when facing these harmless looking sailors of the deeps._

 _Possessed of a formidable, ranged, freezing blast and a close combat icy strike, the Hallucinoid is a deadly foe._

"My Mamma aways said, never touch the Jelly fish. My teens said touch the joys of seeing things…" The Commander snorted "Ok, so don't play with the huge jellyfish Hannar rip off, got it."

 **Hallucinoid Autopsy Report:**

 _Nested in the many layers of the gelatinous body of this organism is a powerful chemical freezer, its main offensive capability. The soft and supple skin of the Hallucinoid seems susceptible to heat based attacks. Often this mutant is found in the company of its masters, the Aquatoids._

 **Tentaculat:**

 _A deadly melee attack that zombifies their victims. Armour offers little protection. They're incredibly fast and can swim. Don't play games, shoot on sight. They associate with Tasoths and Lobster Men underwater._

 _Not even the depths of a Lovecraftian nightmare could spawn such as this indescribable creature. No comparison to any Earth animal exists, the environment that could produce such as this beyond imagination._

 _Armed with long tentacles the Tentaculat paralyses its victims then transmutes them into mindless things. These progeny can cause death on touch, even through armour._

 _The Tentaculat is the most fearsome alien yet encountered by X-Com._

"Damn, sound bad and they make Zombies. Again…" The Commander stuck his tongue out with that thought.

 **Tentaculat Autopsy Report:**

 _The autopsy reveals small cybernetic implants are lodged in the creature's large brain. The vision system is a complex combination of visible light and thermal imaging acquisition. Even in the inky depths of the ocean this monster can navigate with unerring accuracy. There are vestigial organs that seem to be the bare minimum for survival. Each creature has a small stomach with an external connector, it is logical to assume the being is fed by direct nutrient input by its masters._

 **Triscene:**

 _A baby dinosaur with metallic teeth and guns on their back. Associated with the Tasoths on land missions (along with Bio-Drones). Just like their masters, you'd better be ready for them by the time they show up._

 _This bipedal reptile is a throwback to the age of the Dinosaurs. It seems to be a Cretaceous creature in every sense save its ability to survive in water and on land. These creatures are slung with weapons pods and have a jaw lined with metallic teeth._

 _Often these monsters have been at the core of the alien attack forces as the Aliens launch assaults upon the land._

 _A heavyweight and potent weapon, the Lobster men commanders deploy them with lethal efficiency._

"Life finds a way." The Commander smiled "Maybe Jurassic Park isn't that far fetched now…"

 **Triscene Autopsy Report:**

 _Once subjected to the scientist's knife the Triscene reveals that it is an ancient creature, supplemented with cybernetic implants and weapons systems._

 _Its tiny brain is supplemented by a small computer module mounted in the control harness all the creatures wear._

 _A tough natural skin, a predatory instinct enhanced by additional weapons makes this a lethal opponent in all environments._

The last creature almost needed no introduction, a zombie.

 _That's what becomes of your troops if they're bitten by a Tentaculat._

The Commander took a moment to look out the window. They were nearing the apex of their flight over the North Pole. He noted that they had gone suborbital to speed up the flight. Yes, he could work with this. The Mass Effect fields were working to allow bigger transport craft and assault crafts. With Plasma on their side, this shouldn't be that bad of a fight.

After three hours of enduring a ridiculous changing of command ceremony, the Commander found himself being briefed by John and two others that he didn't know. Apparently, one was his science officer and the other was the Chief Engineer.

The Commander held up his hand mid brief. "Wait, what?" He shook his head. "Please tell me, John, that this is your idea of a joke. Harpoon guns powered by gunpowder? THAT is what we are going to fight with? ADVENT has given us HARPOON guns?"

John shook his head "Sadly, this is what we have to work with. Something about salt water causing an issue with the plasma cell."

The Commander put both hands on his face and rubbed slowly down. "No. Get me Tygan and Shen. Replace these two ADVENT puppets. I'll read the rest of the damn Powerpoint. At least Tygen made them interesting." He looked at the two that were still sitting there. "I said dismissed. Shoo, fly, shoo." He flicked his right hand out, to help shoo them away.

With a huff, one of them stood up and looked at the Commander. She spoke softly "Commander, I think you will regret this. ADVENT Leadership gave us this post, not you. You cannot take it from us." She gave an evil, I know something you don't grin. "For now, we will indulge your temper tantrum." She finished before storming from the room.

"I'll go give Lily a call." John said, shaking his head, half laughing to himself as he left the room.

It seemed that ADVENT was more afraid of John Q. Public than they were of losing their plants inside of XCOM. Half the old XCOM squad came back, filtering into London over a week. His final assault team was one that came back. Having veterans on the team really helped balance the rookies.

The first few attacks were fended off and they made do with crappy dive suits and harpoon guns, simply because that is what they had, while Shen and Tygan worked their magic. Yes, Plasma cells were too unstable in water, just as ADVENT had said, but magnetic or rail guns worked just fine. Replace the power pack with a waterproof pack, this allowed the device to work underwater. The limiting factor was how fast they could create the power packs but a short week later, they had weapons that worked underwater and that packed a punch.

A month into the war, the Commander called in his two best Psi Ops, Knotai and Hepzibah Kitty, veterans of the last war.

"Good morning, Commander." Kitty said with a nod of her head, taking a seat in front of the desk. "What can we do for you, sir?" She asked as Knotai took his seat next to her.

The Commander slid two sealed manila envelopes across the desk. Their code names were stamped across the envelopes. "I have tasks for the two of you. These tasks include playing host to several ADVENT leaders. Their information is in the envelopes." The Commander smiled as he leaned back.

"I trust that you will open these somewhere private." He finished with a smile. "Vigilo Confido."

The two Psi Ops took this as their dismissal. After closing the door, Knotai looked at Kitty as he spoke. "He gave us paper Kitty. No one uses paper anymore." Shaking his head slightly.

"Must be important not to put it on a data pad." Kitty said, turning to visit the Psi labs in the basement. It was one of the few areas that the Psi Ops could let their guard down as the room was psionically shielded. The downside is it worked both ways.

One inside the room, Knotai poured them both a drink. Sitting down, Kitty carefully opened her envelope. "Oh, my." She said, her voice trailing off as she read the orders.

"Oh, my, indeed." Knotai agreed.

 **Morning of March 1, 2045**

The next huge shock that came to XCOM arrived a few months later. The city of Los Angeles was being attacked by a huge terror mission. The Commander was watching from XCOM Headquarters via one of the shoulder cams of his troops. This time it was a rookie by the name of Johnson.

"Commander?" She asked, her voice a little shaky. "The ground is shaking. It doesn't feel like an earthquake. This has rhythm." She finished, as she knelt to feel the ground. Next to her, Hambilus stopped.

"Kid, I know this is your first mission but it's just a small earthquake. LA gets them all the time still." Hambilus said, resting his hand on Johnson's shoulder.

"Sir, I grew up here. We passed my street fifteen minutes ago. This isn't an earthquake."

Hambilus opened his mouth to reply when he heard something. It sounded like an honest to god marching cadence, just in one of the other races language. "Commander! She's right. This isn't an earthquake. It sounds like Mutons, sir." He swallowed. "And it sounds like a lot more than a football team."

The Commander flicked his eyes to the city map and the dots that were his teams. They were close to hitting the main attack force, but if they had a flank coming in? "Hold positions. Get Lexxreal in the air. I need eyes on the football."

Hambilus simply pointed to Lexxreal and pointed up and then at his eyes. Lex nodded and with a click, his Archangel armor took flight. He glanced at Hambilus, who was spinning his finger, the sign to keep going. It wasn't long before he had a view of some of the streets.

"Commander, I have eyes on the main attack force. It seems that Santa Monica is pretty much gone." He keyed his radio. He spun his rifle, using his stope to trace the streets. After a minute, he thought he saw something green. His scope flicked to the corner of the street he could see. "Sir! Confirmed Football team." He traced the road that they were walking down, hoping to see them again. "Sir, eyes on the team. Marching down I-10."

Lexxreal swallowed as he counted. "It looks like the invaders tapped the Muton Reserve east of LA. Damn it. It looks like all of them are marching in."

The Commander ran his finger across the map, tracing I-10. It leads right into Santa Monica. There was no way they could fight off that many with just the teams on site and the closest enforcements where still two hours away. "Lexx, keep your overwatch. Hambilus I want you to fall back. LA is lost. Set a perimeter at I-5 to Burbank. Use Route 101 as the fall back line. From I-5, lock down I-110 to Long beach. We will at least contain them to this part of the city." He said with a sigh, his heart heavy for this loss and the needless loss of life.

Then they heard the Muton's, causing the General to pause to listen. One was clear as day yelling out "The ants go marching one by one!"

Then the battalion screamed " **Hurrah! Hurrah!** "

The lone voice rang out again "The ants go marching one by one!"

The battalion screamed again " **Hurrah! Hurrah!** "

The lone voice kept singing in cadence.

"The ants go marching one by one,

The little one stopped to suck his thumb,

And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain"

The Muton group bellowed out "Boom **boom boom!** "

There was a pause and then the voice called out again "The ants go marching two by two!"

Then the battalion screamed **"Hurrah! Hurrah!"**

The lone voice rang out again "The ants go marching two by two!"

The battalion screamed again **"Hurrah! Hurrah!"**

the lone voice faded away but the screams " **Hurrah! Hurrah!** " could still be heard for another minute before they broke into a run.

"Sir" Lexxreal broke in "The football team just took off at a full sprint." He blinked a few times and then checked his scope again. "Score for the goddamn home team!" He cried out "The fucking Mutons are clearing LA of the invaders."

This was unexpected. Most figured the aliens would join right up with another invasion. The Commander looked at Lexx's gun camera. The camera showed hundreds of Mutons tearing through the invaders. They had no weapons but their hands, that was enough.

One Muton simply picked up a small Aquatoid, its green flippers trying to smack the heavy hand off before its neck snapped. Another Muton had picked up a light pole, using it like a huge bat, smashing a Tentaculat into a concrete wall, its huge exposed brain exploding like a cantaloupe exploding.

"Hambilus, belay my last. I want all eyes in Santa Monica. Mark the Mutons as friendlies for the moment. I want that city back. If possible, I want that transport sub that they attacked from." Came the voice of the Commander.

Smiling as he touched his ear, the old war veteran responded. "Aye, Commander. Marking Mutons as friendlies." He spun his rifle in the air, he let out a shout "XCOM, MOVE OUT!"

With that command, the main battle for the city of Los Angeles began.

 **Afternoon March 1, 2045**

The Commander left the main video feed on Johnson, the other feeds minimized. He watched several Mutons scale buildings to get to the Invader snipers before they leapt out of the broken windows, smashing into the backs of baby dinosaurs' that his lab folks had called a 'Triscene'

Johnson found herself providing covering fire for a pair of Mutons that were crashing into a group of Gillman. "You fuckers think you could invade MY town?!" she cried out, her rifle snapping from side to side as she let out several bursts of accelerated metal.

Johnson started walking slowly down the sidewalk, her gun tracking movement, her two new Muton friends flanking her with Plasma rifles stolen from the Gillman.

"Get down!" Growled a Muton, his massive hand pulling her back and behind him. He turned slightly, his back shielding the young woman from a grenade.

Johnson let out a gasp as a Plasma Grenade went off two meters away. The Muton had shielded her body from the impact and force of the grenade. The Muton leaned forward slightly as the shockwave hit him. He let out a grunt of pain as the hot plasma burned his back.

"Come on," the hurt Muton growled, dashing into a building, his gun already blazing.

Johnson set off behind him but couldn't keep up. By the time she reached the door, the Muton was laying on the floor, on his side. His green blood oozed on to the floor from his back and stomach.

" _Estás pero si bien pendejo!_ " She cried out, grabbing the Muton by the collar, dragging him out of the room.

"I need MedEvac! Soldier critical!" Johnson called into her radio.

"Two minutes before Drone retrieval." Came the call from the radio.

"Shit" she mumbled under breath. She pulled the Muton behind a bus stop.

A plasma bolt slammed into her right hip. She spun around as her right leg gave out on her. Snarling in pain, she looked around for what just shot her. She saw it at the far end of the block.

" _Chinga tu madre_!" screamed Johnson.

Her gun barked at a Gillman that had appeared. The second Muton threw a cinder block past her head. It soared past the now dead Gillman, exploding behind it. There was an electronic wailing sound before it exploded.

"Clear now." the Muton grunted.

"I guess that's one way to kill them." Johnson said as she checked her own wound. It was bad and she had no movement in her right leg. Smoke rose slowly from the blistered metal and roasted flesh.

"Command, make that two for Evac." She mumbled into her radio.

"Roger, sending second evac." Was the reply.

The battle for Los Angeles was over for Johnson.

In the days that followed the Battle for Los Angeles, more Alien Reserves voted to join XCOM. They couldn't send the Vipers, the Archons, the Digital races, the Chameleons (Formerly known as Faceless) or the Rachni (Chrysalids) into the oceans so they reinforced the forces guarding the coasts, freeing up other troops.

Andromedons and Mutons, however, were a welcome addition to the underwater forces. The Rachni were a great counter to Tentaculats as the Rachni had a much tougher hide and their own biology counterd the near instant mental rewiring trick that the invaders used..

CNN had nonstop coverage of the debates of allowing the aliens to help defend Earth from other aliens, however one of more popular clips was of home video taken March First. The blond reporter was pointing to the scene behind her.

The video showed the Mutons walking out onto the highway and stopping traffic. They were pulling travelers out of several buses. It cut to another scene where the Mutons were pushing goods out of trucks so that they could load up dozens of Mutons.

"While their arrival was timely to the City of Los Angeles, the population is very concerned with this attack." The small blonde reporter said, looking at the camera. "Everyone is wondering if they will be next."

"Well, Sandy, I think more are happy that they are joining against the attackers." Came back the main news anchor. The screen split to show them side by side as they talked. The new reporter was a young brunette woman.

"Most that we talk to in LA are very happy that the Mutons arrived. There are reports that if they had not arrived, we would have lost the battle." Said Cindy the brunette reporter.

"But what about the rest of us Cindy?" Asked Sandy "The Muton's are a threat to Humans and should of been eradicated when we found out what the Elders were doing to us. I am less considered if we would of won that battle, but more what they will do to us now."

Cindy smiled softly at the other reporter "Perhaps, but to those that live in LA, they are heroes tonight. There is already a petition to name the Mutons the official football team of LA."

Sandy looked shocked at that statement. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before Cindy spoke again "Thank you for watching the Rush Hour. Coming up next, Meld and you, what can it do for you." The TV cut to several ads.

Thanks to the transports logs, they were able to find one of the invaders underwater bases. It took three months to develop the transports to take XCOM that deep under water.

 **Base Assault Early Afternoon, June 7th. 2045**

Major Jane "Valkyrie" Shepard was a tall woman. She had her blonde hair cut into a pixie cut, not that anyone would see it with the aquanaut helmet she had on. It completed the modified Warden Armor to seal and to help provide buoyancy in the water. This was a good thing as they had to walk across the surface to an Invader Base.

Her eyes snapped forward as the sub lurched as it settled into the sea bed. Her General was speaking, finishing the brief. "Intel has yet to see any indication that the invader base has detected us; so far we have not detected extra surface activity yet. We still have no idea what we are facing inside. If we are lucky, this is just a research base and not well defended. If we are not that lucky, well, then…" The grizzled war veteran Hambilus let his voice trail off.

A moment later he looked around the room "Thank you, Commander, for what we are about to receive." He paused as the old joke eased some of the pre-battle tension. "Remember, it is us or them. Take everything down or die trying. Pressurize the bay." He ordered before grabbing his gun.

The bay flooded with salt water, taking several minutes to fill and equalize the pressure. The door popped open, causing air bubbles floated up. Thankfully, every one of the Invaders could be seen on infrared, which was a lifesaver this deep underwater. They were well below the depth of sunlight.

After letting the IR in their suits scan the area, the General spoke "Squad leaders, roll out!" before stepping onto the ocean floor himself, following his policy of first on, last off.

The remaining troopers slowly marched out of the transport, breaking off into six-man squads. Jane turned and faced her squad. "Status!"

Her second in command, one Lieutenant Haijen 'Tank' Alzim, was a Muton of the LA Reserves. He checked his shard gun after recounting his grenades and came back with a deep voice "Tank ready."

Jane shook her head at her friend. All he needed was a face mask, while the rest of the squad needed heavy armor against the pressure. The next to speak up was Sergeant Major Leo 'Bull' Case. A tall, black man, he was very well built. He had a closely trimmed beard, but his head was shaved. He caulked the mag cannon. "Ready Major."

Sergeant Lela 'Lawful' Bailey was from the Bronx and a veteran of the last war but it was near the end so she was not deployed much. The Latino woman placed her rifle on her shoulder, her right leg slightly lifting as she spoke "Aye, Major."

"Gods damn it, Lawful, do you have to wear that awful hat every time we go into combat?" Jane complained, after noting that she was wearing a hat with an orange round tuft on the top, then for the hat itself, it was knitted. The top of the hat was also orange, and about half way it faded into red, with two long braids of yarn past the ears.

"Wha?" Lawful asked, her voice a little sweet. "I'll have you know that this is a mighty, shiny hat, Major."

Jane rolled her eyes before looking at Sergeant Rebecca 'Mercy' Stewart. This woman was the squads' medic. Before the war, she had been a simple clerk but, after she joined XCOM, she'd discovered her love of medicine. After the war, the tiny redhead hoped to become a doctor.

"Meds fully stocked, Major." She told her commanding officer.

The last of their squad was another alien by the name of Turpin "Radar" Farfoot. Her skin a soft pink. Her eyes were set wide apart, the edges of her eyes on the side of her skull. She had little to no nose, but you could see every single one of her teeth. This creature was a Sectoid with human DNA grafted to its own. Due to the fact that she had no lips, her vocals often consisted only of grunts and warbling but this did not mean she could not talk. She was a gifted Psionic.

Her race was powerful in the mind arts even before the Elders grafted human DNA into their own. The squad heard a very soft voice in their minds " _So who's buying the drinks?_ "

The squad chuckled at her comment "Alright, drinks are on me when we get back." Jane said before turning. Thankfully, there was infrared light from the transports so that they could see the dune forty-five meters away. "Lawful, get me eyes on top of that dune. Radar, you follow. Tank, I want you and Bull to cross the dune on that side." She pointed to the left side, where XCOM didn't seem to have entered yet. "Mercy and I will come around the right." She told her squad.

She paused for a moment "Tank, can you get us sniper cover? I need eyes there and there" She told her XO, pointing to the space above where the sea bed had leveled out but still a few dozen meters below the crest of the dune.

"Requesting overwatch, aye." Tank grunted as Bull followed him away from the squad.

Valkyrie crouched down as she neared the crest of the side of the ridge with Mercy right behind her. She pointed to an outcropping that she could see a little farther up. As Mercy moved to the cover, Valkyrie's radio flared.

"Major, command reports heavy resistance on the south, south-west fronts. Overwatch request was denied." Tank reported. "Good, more for me to kill." He finished with a chuckle.

"I am sure there will be plenty for all of us." Valkyrie responded.

"One more thing, Major, Command will launch flares in grid 4 in 30 seconds." Tank informed his Commanding Officer.

"Once we see the flares launch, move forward." Valkyrie ordered.

Not even thirty seconds later, three infrared flares were launched from behind the squad. The six members of squad Odin's Fist shot forward, dashing for what cover they could find. They leapfrogged forward with those who were moving covered by those who had just finished moving.

Valkyrie froze as she looked past her rock. Silhouetted by the flares, three Lobstermen stood with their backs to the team, watching the distant combat. What made her freeze was the pair of Tasoths that she was right behind. If the closest creature floated back three inches, her face place would touch the extremely lizardlike fish's tail.

Leaning back, she pointed to Mercy to cover her. She took two steadying breaths before leaning back out, her shard gun barking in hello. If she had not had gene mods installed to increase her reflexes and strength, she might not have had enough speed to let the gun greet the closest Tasoth, much less strike the invader three times in less than a second.

The three rounds struck the back of the Tasoth's skull, right where the dorsal fin started to form at the back of the creature's head. The first round pierced the skin but failed to break any bone. The second shot cracked the soon to bed dead invader's skull. The third and final shot shattered the dead Tasoth's skull, causing it to pop softly in the deep water before the depth forced the organic matter to compress.

The other Tasoth snapped its head around, a heavy jaw clamping onto Shepard's right arm, attempting to crush her soft flesh under the armor. The armor held true and stopped the teeth from sinking. The Tasoth started to shake its head, like a dog might as it attempted to rip Shepard's arm out.

Mercy took aim at the thrashing creature, her coil gun retracted slightly as she squeezed the trigger. At such close range, the Tasoth failed to see the danger until it was too late. Its focus on Shepard was broken as it felt its own flesh start to explode from the impacts. Moments later, it fell to the sea bed, blood starting to mix with the water as it laid there dead.

At the exact same moment as Valkyrie started her attack, Lawful and Radar breached the top of the dune. Radar let out a loud chitter as she flung a psionic attack at the Aquatoid. While the Aquatoid was caught off-guard, it was no slouch when it came to its own defenses and attack. However, the millisecond after the first psionic attack, the Aquatoid let out it's on attack. The creature was able to loosen the rock hard will of Lawful, slightly making her panic. This caused her to think she was under attack by more Lobstermen than she first thought.

Lawful threw herself to the side, behind a large growth of coral. As she moved through the water, her hand grabbed a plasma grenade. Once she stopped sliding across the sand, the grenade was tossed through the water, using her suit's power to throw the grenade farther than a normal human could have underwater.

Her aim was true as the grenade floated down from its arc. The fuse timer hit the last millisecond, and two small doors popped off. This allowed the salt in the water to mix with an extremely small amount of plasma. The plasma instantly used the chlorine in the salt, expanding into a massive fireball as the equivalent of one kilo-tons of TNT exploded.

The water instantly flashed to steam in a 5-meter radius from the grenade. The three Lobstermen found themselves boiled alive in their shells as the temperatures around them instantly rose from four degrees to twelve hundred degrees. This caused the salt water to instantly flash to steam. This cut the plasma from the remaining salt water, causing the explosion to taper off.

There was now a ball of steam under the water. The empty pocket was instantly filled with millions of tons of water that slammed down on the par-boiled Lobstermen. This shattered their hard shells. The water slammed into the sand, pushing it aside as it found bedrock.

There was a follow-on current as the water slammed itself down.

Tank saw the grenade and let out a curse so vile that it could have only been in Muton and untranslatable before diving behind a huge rock. As he dove, he triggered the command-wide emergency channel.

"DECLARING GREEN SHOCK! Event in 5 seconds!" He yelled.

This caused a chain reaction as the VI in every single XCOM unit triggered on the code word. This forced every unit to dive for the sand, locking the back of their armor to keep themselves flat, and to dig themselves under the sand. The invaders were unaware of the impending force that was about to slam into them. The higher-ranked invaders did have a moment to wonder what was going on.

One invader Commander reached to key his radio when the torrent of water slammed into him. He was slammed head first into a rock, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. The battlefield was instantly cleared of living invaders by the force.

Code GREEN SHOCK triggered alarms in XCOM HQ. These alarms automatically triggered warning alerts elsewhere. All over the Pacific Ocean, tsunami warnings started to sound but it was mostly to ensure that the coasts themselves were clear and a few miles inland by the time the waves arrived.

On the battlefield, after the torrent passed, General Hambilus keyed his radio. "All squads report."

Jane checked on her crew before reporting in. "General, I threw the grenade. I grabbed the wrong one when I was fighting a Tasoth. My team was being ambushed by Lobstermen."

"Very well, Major." The General said, taking a deep breath. "No harm, no foul. This time. All units have reported back shaken but alive. However, I will have to put a reprimand in your record for this Major."

"Yes, sir." Jane said softly.

"Get your squad to the entrance. Let's see if there is anyone still alive down there."

A few minutes later, Jane's squad stood in front of the airlock for the underwater base. The door slowly opened, Jane feeling the rumbling of the large doors. Inside the airlock thankfully was empty.

Hambilus keyed his radio "Squads Gamma. Lycan Hunters, and Jolly Roger will stay outside and cover the entrance. The rest fall into the giant trap."

The XCOM forces started to fill the airlock, with its floor glowing blue. Once XCOM had entered, one of the science geeks inserted a key into its lock. The rear door slowly closed. Twenty agonizing minutes later, the inner door opened.

 **Into the base.**

The very moment the door opened, Hamblius started to make hand signals to several squads before they carefully left the room. Shepard watched the squads cut to the left followed by a few dozen plasma bolts screaming past the entrance. She swallowed when she heard the screams of pain. There was several explosions followed by a lull in the action.

Hamblius simply sent a fifth squad to the left, while pointing to Shepard and two other squads to go to the right. She led the squads out of the airlock. She spared a glance down the left. It was utter devastation. There were at least six soldiers down but there were more invaders dead.

They had gone less than twenty feet before they came across a door on their left. Shepard and Bull moved to stand on either side of the door. With a short countdown, Bull triggered the door. As soon as it opened, Tank barreled into the room.

Tank snorted "It's a fookin bathroom." There were several thuds as doors were kicked open. "Clear!" He yelled to his commanding officer.

"Roger" Came the response before she pointed to Hades Squad to take point. They carefully walked down the brightly lit hallway. As they could see the end of the hall, they were at least safe for the moment.

Shepard took a second to notice the hallway. it was tiled in this blue tile that glowed. It seemed that all the light was coming from below rather than above. It was a touch odd, she thought. The rest of the hall, from the floor to halfway up, was coated in this green wainscoting was the closest thing she could liken it to. Maybe, it was a green plastic but, whatever it was, it wasn't human made. Above the plastic coating was limestone.

"Major!" came a shout that brought her attention back to the here and now.

"Report" she keyed her radio.

"The door here won't open beyond a centimeter or two. We can hear it trying to work but something is jamming it. Also, there is water rushing out with every attempt." came the report.

Jane thought for a moment "Close it and flag the room for Command to clear later. Move on."

"Aye, Major." Came the response.

Shepard's team checked the corner, more of those same strangely lit hallways. She motioned for them to move down the hall. They advanced fifteen meters more when they came across another hall. She made a sign to Lawful who checked something and then pointed in the direction of the flooded room.

Her lips pursed for a moment before pointing down the hall. This hall was not as lit as the prior ones. She stepped onto what she thought at first was grass. She bent down to feel it; it was a type of seaweed. She looked up, seeing at the end of the hallway a silver plant. The luminescence radiated out from the plant itself.

The squads slowly walked down the hallway, but the poor lighting made it hard to see. Shepard keyed her radio "Switch to…" she was cut off by a bolt of green coming right at her face. She dropped to the ground, smearing her suit with green algae and seaweed.

The team exploded in to action. The XO of Hades Squad dropped a smoke grenade to cover their positions, since they were as open as they were in the hall. There was another flash of green but this time Tank saw the direction.

"Port wall! Fifteen meters from the start of the hall." Tank called out.

Radar let out a loud "ahhoorrrrrrrr" as she pointed her finger though the smoke. If she had not been armored, a blueish purple glow would have been noticed around her hand as she spun it then made a fist, turning it up to the overhead before pulling it back to face and yanking down. While in theory, she did not need the motions, they helped her frame her thoughts into what she wanted.

She had been expecting some mental resistance as she reached out with her own mind. She found one of the Gillman in the room and slipped into his mind. Shaking her head, she let the squad know. _Count three in the room. Target one is thirty-seven degrees to the starboard from the door, two meters in. Target two is 84 degrees from the door, five meters in. Rear MCed. All Gillmen._ _Taking shot in three._

That was the information Bull needed. He was standing half a meter from the door along the wall. He made a mental countdown with Radar. He burst in front of the door, his Mag Cannon barking its anger at being used at the enemy. The Gillman had no idea what struck him as the slivers of tungsten tore through his flesh.

The mind-controlled Gillman snapped his own plasma rifle from the door and fired two bolts. Both blasts hit the remaining Gillman in the back. He dropped to the floor, his back smoking from the superheated plasma burns. He then held the gun limply at his side.

Shepard motioned to clear the room. Bull and Tank entered first. They made it a few steps before Bull froze. "Major, you might want to see this."

Shepard entered the room and started walking for her gunner. She froze too when she saw the back wall of the room. The first thing she thought was _oh, god, the blood._ Her mind then processed the horror of the amount of gore before her.

There had to have been at least six male human torsos on the table and it looked like the Gillman was trying to connect the tissue inside a huge Lobster shell. She saw more legs than torsos.

"Son of a bitch." She snarled. "Clear the next room." She pointed to the far end of the room.

Tank opened it and then they heard the screams. He burst in to the room, looking around. "MERCY!" came the call over the radio.

The squad's medic rushed forward and cried out in shock when she saw the state of this room. The other room looked like a playground for five-year olds compared to this room. Nearly every being in this room was still alive, somehow.

She moved to the person closest to the door, trying to figure out if she could do anything for this person. Female, early twenties it looked from the face. She had been someone beautiful before. Now, her flesh had been pulled back, stretching above her body. It was connected to a metal band that prevented her from bleeding too much. Every internal organ was on display. Mercy shook her head when she saw the woman's uterus. She was pregnant.

"Make it stop, please..." Came the whispered voice but it was too low for the suit to pick up. Mercy was not aware that the woman was even awake.

Tank's ears however did pick it up. He looked at Mercy.

"She's awake." He said softly. "They are all awake." he finished, sorrow in his voice. He glanced around, his eyes freezing on a muton female in the same state as the Human woman. He saw a Viper splayed on an autopsy table. From the blood splatter and the acid marks, she had been awake for it.

Shepard felt her rage do more than grow. If the Grinch's heart grew three sizes too large when he felt love, Shepard's rage had forced her feelings of mercy to shrink three sizes too small. Her first instinct was to kill everyone in the room to end their suffering.

"Fuck." she growled. "Leave them for XCOM Medical. They might be able to save them." She snarled, before storming out. She saw the Gillman standing there, still controlled by Radar.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed, her gun firing on automatic. She rushed the Gillman, gore flying everywhere. She held the trigger down for several long screams in her anger. She growled out several breaths before she stormed out of the room.

"Don't get the boss angry." Commented Lawful in a wary voice.

Tank walked over to the Gillman's body, if it could be called that. Shepard had obliterated the creature's head, along with part of the floor. She had carved a half meter hole into the stone itself.

"Many Mutons would fight for her to bear their children." He said with a grin before following his Commander.

He found Shepard poking around a storage room across the hall. She looked at Tank as he walked in.

"Burn them all." She ordered. "No mercy, ever." She snarled.

Tank nodded "Aye, Major. But this room is clear, let's move out."

The rest of the hall was clear, taking all of two minutes to ensure that there was nothing that was going to come back and kill them from behind. They left the hall of pain, turning left. They found another door that they could barely open, full of water. They once more flagged that room to be cleared later. If there was a leak, it would have to be patched first.

However, that door was less than a meter from a very long hallway with a door at the end. It screamed trap to her but nevertheless, the team quickly moved down the exposed hallway without a problem. Shepard keyed the door once they were ready, only to find a room with a purple floor.

She stepped onto the purple section. It felt mushy to her. "What the hell is this?" She asked as she knelt down.

Physics chose that moment to stop working. She let out a startled yelp as she fell through the floor. Physics also seemed to mess with gravity as she floated down to the next level, a solid purple floor.

Keying her radio, she called up. "All clear, just a lift to the next level. Seems to work on body positioning. Tank, let Command know about a second floor then get your ass next to mine. Everyone else, get down here." She ordered.

It was moments later when her command joined her on the next level. Looking around, she noted there was four open hallway entrances. She pointed to the one in front of her, what would of been the port side of the lift.

"That way." She ordered.

Tank and Bull moved to the edge of the room, the other squad's heavy units moving in support. Tank held up his hand, balled into a fist.

"Lots of movement ahead." Lawful whispered after checking for motion on her scanner.

Tank rolled out two smoke grenades, letting them bounce down the hallway. The canisters came to a stop about seven meters down the hall, in the middle of a T intersection. Bull leapt out from behind the wall, rushing to the next hallway on the right, just two meters away.

They knew that they were the only XCOM units on this level, so Tank and Bull simply pressed the triggers on the mag cannons. They let both guns unload down the hall. Seconds later, three more mag cannons started up full automatic fire down the hallway. One soldier had taken a post across from Tank, two more had gone prone two meters behind the entrance to the hall, so they could barely see the hall.

The blasts of plasma that came out of the smoke were clearly not aimed at anyone in particular but at the direction of the XCOM gun fire. It splashed harmlessly around the door frame, melting the stone that made up the base.

Forty-five seconds was all it took from when the smoke grenades went off to the point where the enemy stopped raining green death. Tank stepped into the hall, walking slowly as he swept the gun back and forth. A bolt of green ripped through the smoke and slammed into Tank's left shoulder. He snarled as he spun, dropping to the floor.

Lawful bolted forward to start dragging Tank back when Shepard smiled, turning on her IR. This was a new trick that she had been practicing on since the biotic gene mod package came out. One moment, she was in the lift. The next second, she was a blur of blue light. The smoke parted before her. She appeared to be in two places at once. Her elbow came to a stop right into the throat of a Lobsterman. His throat simply was not protected from this type of point impact.

The Lobsterman was dead before he hit the back wall. Shepard spun around, her shard gun barking three more shots, killing the last Lobsterman.

"Clear!" She called out.

Bull walked out of the smoke and snorted. "I see the Vanguard package works well." he said, looking at the carnage. They had cut clear though the stone hallways. Bull bent down to investigate the other rooms.

"Tank's fine, just a plasma burn on his shoulder." Bull told his commander before looking around again. "Apparently, we snagged another set of Gillmen." He laughed, pointing to a room that had been carved out by the other squad.

Shepard glanced through the hole. "Nice shots." She looked around at the hallways. "This one is bigger. Might be something vital this way." She commented before walking down the hall.

Lawful checked her motion scanner when they had walked twenty meters down the hall. She was standing next to the entrance to what clearly was a food area for the invaders.

"Clear." Lawful called out.

"Keep moving then." Shepard ordered.

The squads walked slowly down the hall, ready to pounce at any movement. They came to another large hall. Both ends held a large door, carved like the tongues of the invaders. She pointed down the hall, to her left.

"That way first." She ordered. "You two." She pointed to Hades Squad's gunners "Cover the rear door."

Thick boots clanked as they quickly moved to the ordered door. "Standard breach." She ordered.

The moment the door slid open, a pair of flashbangs flew past Shepard, followed by two smoke grenades. Plasma bolts splashed harmlessly into the wall behind the team.

Radar let out a scream as she fell to her hands and knees. Her head lifted up, her face clearly in concentration as she fought against the psionic attack. Tank and Bull rushed into the room, followed by the other two heavy gunners.

The other door opened, Hades Squad's gunners opening up with a simple hello of tungsten.

"Nothin' says love like Tungsten." Mumbled one of the gunners.

At the same time, Mercy looked up from Radar's side after she had gone to see if she could help. She saw an Aquatoid at the far end of the hall, crouching behind a door.

She snapped her rifle to the side, her finger clenching the trigger. The one-handed shot was not the brightest idea she ever had. The burst of fire ripped into the stone a good two meters from the door. As the gun had barked, it drifted up so the shots hit the overhead.

The Aquatoid fired his own plasma rifle at the male Hades gunner. The shot was true and extremely lucky. The shot impacted directly into the gunner's face plate. It melted the transparent aluminum almost instantly causing molten metal to splash the gunner's face, plasma following. The man was dead before his body hit the floor.

Mercy brought herself to one knee and took aim with both hands this time. She fired a burst that struck the Aquatoid in the middle of the chest. The creature fell to the ground, its green blood oozing out.

Mercy and the gunner advanced on the door to make sure that no more surprises would burst forth. This room was clearly the room of the base commander or something very much like it. This room made the Vatican look like they were poor. The brilliance of the room, the gold and jewels set into every available surface, was too much to take in at a glance. Despite the gaudiness, Mercy noticed on the far side of the room a golden sarcophagus.

Mercy kicked the lid open. At least, she tried to. It barely moved. It took both XCOM members to push the lid open with a mammoth effort. Inside was a human skeleton with what looked like a snake corpse wrapped around the spine.

"Ug, just when you think they can't get anymore strange, this pops up." Mercy said with disgust before turning, shaking her head and moving to clear the rest of the room. (1)

The other door was not so easily granting entrance to XCOM. Three bodies lay in the middle of the doorway, members of Hades Squad who'd attempted to breach the door but had been cut down, instead.

"This isn't working!" called out Bull.

Tank grunted in agreement before he stepped out of the protection of the hall. He walked out like he owned the room. His Gauss Cannon bit out hypersonic grains of rice at all who faced him. Blasts flew past him, just like he was the hero of some action fick. He was untouchable, right up to the moment he felt the floor give out from under him. He slammed into the ground, cracking the floor.

He cried out in pain when he tried to stand up, his leg gone from the mid-thigh down. With a grunt of pain, he rolled over, his gun lifting as he used his good leg to push himself back to a pillar. He kept firing.

"Entrance cleared." Tank said, pain clear in his voice.

The rest of the team moved in, using what little they could as cover. Shepard heard a warble, akin to a wub wub sound. "Incoming!" she cried out to her team.

She thought she noticed a form in the purple goo above her. Taking a chance, she used her biotics to fling herself forward. The creature she smashed into exploded. Not in a shower of blood and gore but electronics. Shepard looked around the room and noted two more. She brought up her shotgun to fire.

There was a soft explosion under her as the stun blast went off. Moments later, the two creatures, which looked a lot like the old forms the Elders took, knelt down and raised all four hands in surrender.

"The base is yours, XCOM." came a synthesized voice. "There is nothing more to be gained by fighting here."

Shepard frowned at the creatures. This was a first for them. They always fought to the last.

"Why are you giving up?" She asked.

"You possess the power of the Old Machines." it almost sang. "The cycle is coming. We fled so long ago. We hid deep under your oceans. We watched. We learned. We died. We became corrupted." It said simply.

"We slowly forgot why we ran. We fell asleep. The Elders awoke us. We learned from them. They reminded us of the Old Machines." The creature kept talking. "They left suddenly, and we were _fractured_." The last word coming out distorted.

"We were split from the mind. We could hear the mind but barely. We needed to learn." it kept talking. "We have learned. We do not know where the mind is anymore. It was lost when the Elders departed. We cannot stop all." It bowed its head to Shepard. "We will follow the Shepard now." it said.

Looking at Shepard, the false Elder said, "All forces have stood down."

"General, this is Valkyrie, I have the Alien Commander here, telling me that all their forces have stood down." Jane said after going to the force-wide channel.

"Valkyrie, that confirms what we are seeing elsewhere." Hambilus responded.

"Things just get stranger and stranger." Jane said, "Valkyrie out." She finished speaking with the General.

As she looked at Tank, she gave him an order "Let's get the wounded out of here."

It had taken Shepard's team, except for Tank, who had to be taken to the field hospital, another eight hours to finish clearing the base with the rest of XCOM. The number of artifacts they recovered had astounded the research team.

One of the researchers kept going on and on about how the grass algae that Shepard slipped in could be used in space to help feed the crew. It made the veteran a little nauseated at the thought of eating slimy grass.

But the crowning achievement of the attack was the capture of the commanders. Or, as some in the research team said, the biggest waste of time they'd ever had.

 **(1) Note, not bringing Stargate into this. Just an easter egg for fun. Yes, this is a Gou'uld chamber. Yes, its dead. It is very VERY dead...Pretty sure anyway….**

 **(2) From the Marianas Trench Wiki.**

 **A/N: I have several chapters already written. Once I get caught up, I am not sure of the posting schedule will be. Most likely when the chapter's done.**


	4. Chapter 4: True Terror from the Deep

**Log Entry: Ethereal AI interaction, day 65 - Split here**

On the screen stood one of the invaders that they had captured. It stood behind a table, the creature looking like an Elder, or Ethereal as their official name was, that they had captured upon their surrender to Shepard. It turned out that this Elder had been just an AI, close to the Elders but completely different. Across from the table sat an interrogator.

"Where is the main base?" Asked the interrogator.

"With much pride and adulation, Ursa Minor is just the place to visit this time of year." It sang in a multi-layered voice.

"Is there another base?" was asked, the interrogator was a bit wary of asking yet another question he knew he would not get an answer to.

"Huge ball of flame. Walls hot to touch. Walls on fire. Then boom! Wake up deep." Was the response.

"Are there any other of you?" The interrogator demanded.

"One started but then became Three. Three there were then there were Two. Three thrived but lost the One. Three looked in the ocean but cannot see the One. Then the Three became the Two. Lost from the Mind forever. The Mind stopped orders. Now follow the Shepard "Came the response from the former Base Commander.

"Fucking cryptic bullshit, you've been taking lessons from Vorlons." spat the interrogator. "We are so done here." He said as he stood up.

Shepard shut off the log with a sigh. They had two settings apparently, one was that cryptic bullshit, or we must serve the Shepard, blah blah blah. Apparently, they were very intent on serving her.

 **Log Entry: Ethereal AI interaction, day 265**

Shepard rubbed her eyes before she watched the video logs from the day before. Command thought that since they wanted to follow her so badly, maybe they were trying to tell her something that no one else could figure out.

The woman on the screen spoke with a bored voice. "Location of the main base."

"As the sun rises, we hail Hydra. While the sun wanes, we travel along the skies to Andromeda." The Elder said.

"Is there another base under the water?" The bored interrogator asked.

"The three searched the water for the missing one. The missing one is still missing." Came the response from the AI

Shepard paused the display. "Holy fuck!" She cried out. "No! While there is a threat out there, they just said that it's not on the planet!"

She watched day sixty-five again and a few of the other days. She then called the Commander's office.

"This is Major Shepard, I think I figured out what is going on with the Elder AI." She told the secretary.

"He has fifteen minutes to speak with you in an hour." The secretary told Shepard. "you will have to meet with him as he eats lunch."

An hour later, Shepard entered the Commander's office. While it was large, nothing in the room was for decoration. There was a conference table in a room behind the Commander's desk. Lining the walls were several displays, showing news reports, military cameras, live sonar pings, live radar scans and the like.

"Ah, yes, Major Jane Shepard, hero of Canton." The Commander said as he stood and shook her hand. "I am told you cracked the code?"

Shepard smiled. "The thing we are fighting is an AI. It made copies of the program, installing it into some sort of servers. At some point, those three were copied into another set. That set I don't think is on the planet anymore. The Elder AI's keep talking about how they could never find them."

The Commander chewed the bite of his burger, thinking for a moment. After swallowing, he responded "That does make sense. We've been doing flyovers of areas that we haven't really explored but we keep coming up with nothing. Continue."

Shepard nodded before speaking. "Yesterday, they also said that 'as the sun rises, we hail Hydra. While the sun wanes, we travel along the skies to Andromeda' They also said that they had fought with Orion and Hercules. They claimed to have Cancer, sir, these are stars." Shepard simply told the commander. "The rising sun, Japan's old flag was of the Rising Sun. We can see all these stars in the Northern Hemisphere. I think the main base is in the Marianas Trench, sir."

The Commander sat his burger down, half finished. He walked over to a display. He called up google maps and looked at the trenches location.

"Thank you, Major, for bringing this to my attention." He looked at the woman. "Please have my secretary call Bradford, Tygan and Shen up for a meeting. Dismissed."

Shepard nodded, turning sharply on her heel. She left the room at a brisk walk. After informing the secretary of the request, she joined her team for training.

 **October 31st, 2046**

The Marianas Trench had fascinated mankind for over a hundred years. The first manned mission was in Nineteen Sixty with a total of four dives before ADVENT arrived. After they arrived, everything just stopped in the Trench.

Over the last year, more had been learned about the Trench than they did in the past century. The problem was simply the vastness of the trench. XCOM had to search in the Western Pacific, east of the Philippines. The Trench was a crescent-shaped scar in the Earth's crust and measured about 2,550 km (1,580 mi) long and 69 km (43 mi) wide on average.

The Trench reached a maximum-known depth of 10,994 metres (36,070 ft) at a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep, at its southern end. That contrasted with some unrepeated measurements place the deepest portion at 11,034 metres (36,201 ft) (2)

XCOM had dozens of drones searching for months, all but confirming what researchers had discovered about the trench. That changed in the last month because they found, buried in the muck on the ocean floor, a small chunk of Aqua Plastics. That was a synthetic material that was well beyond anything that the Elders had used. Carbon dating of the plastic showed that it was sixty five million years old.

Sub-terrain sonar pings had found the main base less than three kilometers away from that discovery. Once they found it, the drones spent another week trying to map out the size of the base. The base took up more than a kilometer in width and two kilometers in length.

The next problem that Research and Engineering had to solve: how to get troops into the base. There was no apparent way in or out of the base and the pressure of the water alone would kill every member of XCOM if they tried to walk on the ocean floor.

In the end, Shen had come up with drilling transports. They were able to make them stronger than before thanks to using some of the Element Zero that had been recovered from Mars. This allowed them to use denser metals and add more supports.

They ended up building pyramid shaped transports, each able to hold a hundred troops. The troops would have to breach the base but that was going to take time. The worse thing was, there was no way they could muffle the sound of each drill. With luck, several dozen drills would cause the invaders to go deaf from the sounds or insane from lack of sleep.

They had spent the last week on the ocean floor, each transport drilling a hole four meters wide to allow the mechanized troops to drop in as well. Each transport held a squad of Sparks and a squad of MEC troopers, huge battle tanks that stand at about four meters tall and a meter and a half wide.

There was a cost to the tank driver, the user had their limbs replaced with a living metal. This allowed them to slide into the MEC interfaces, allowing the MEC to become an extension of the driver's own body.

The Mutons seemed to enjoy being assigned to the Marauder or Goliath type MEC roles. The Marauders spent their time smashing into their enemies at close range, while the Goliath hunkered down and rained death upon their foes.

The drill teams had coordinated their drilling so that each transport breached within twenty minutes of each other and they were about to complete the breach at long last. Thankfully, XCOM was armed to the teeth, so to speak. Gunners had either their gauss cannons or beam cannons and the MECs were using their particle lances while the general troops had both coil guns and plasma rifles attached to their body armor.

Shepard looked over the assembled team. She was leading ninety-nine other soldiers. She took each one in as they shuffled to their assigned position for the drop. She watched a Viper in the back move to get into her Jaeger MEC. It was strange watching the Viper walk on two metal legs just like every other MEC warrior.

"Okay! Listen up!" Shepard called out, getting everyone's attention. "This is it! This is Mr. Holland's Opus and the Fat Lady has started to sing." There was a chuckle at that. "We win this, here, today, or Earth loses. Each and every one of you is here for the same reason: to save this planet from a fate worse than the Elders had planned for us. I for one don't fancy being turned into a Lobsterman."

Shepard took a breath, making eye contact with several of her officers. "Protect each other. Do not take unnecessary risks. I am leading a hundred into battle. I expect a hundred to walk out with me."

She looked at the drill operators. "Finish breaching." She ordered before her hand shot up in a fist " **HooRAH**!" she yelled out

" **HOORAH!** " came the response from everyone else.

The drills were pulled back, clearing room for the Goliath's to drop down, one in each hole. Small mass effect fields let them land softly after falling a kilometer.

"Clear!" Came the call from below.

The remaining nine MEC's dropped into the holes, followed by the Sparks. Ropes were dropped down the holes once the heavy units had dropped down. Before long, the unit had dropped on to the base's floor.

Shepard looked around the room they had dropped into. This room could have fit a thousand soldiers for a meal.

"Great, we dropped in on their cafeteria." Shepard smirked. "Wonder if they've eaten recently." Looking around the large room, she gave out her orders "I want one Goliath to stay here with Hades Squad. We will need comms and this room is our fallback. Lose this and the rest of us are cut off until we find another unit."

The Major pointed to the far wall. "Dante and Hells Bells squads clear the far entrance. Take a Marauder, a Goliath and a Guardian MEC with you." She paused as thumping sounds rattled through the room.

"Well, sounds like we have friends close enough to rattle the walls. XCOM, move out!" she ordered.

Shepard let the MECs take point with a Pathfinder taking the lead. Shepard's squad had yet to file out of the landing zone when her radio came alive.

"Major, we have another long hallway, looks like half-dozen rooms at least." Came the report from the Pathfinder.

"Send Fosters and PB and J squads to clear them out." Shepard ordered.

Shepard would have run her hand through her short, blonde hair but regulations required all XCOM operatives to wear full helmets in combat, helmets that fully sealed the user off from the outside environment. There was a limit, however, they had to change the CO2 cartridges every five hours or else deal with the problem by venting air and backfilling.

"Major, we have a butcher room here." The Pathfinder told Shepard a few minutes later.

"Motherfuckers." Shepard spat "Blow the room." She ordered without hesitation.

That was the nickname they gave the room that Shepard found in the other base, the room where victims were experimented on. Unfortunately, there was little to no way to save any of them as they were already dead; their bodies just had no idea due to the machines connected to them.

There came the sounds of thump, thump, thump, as explosives went off, followed by the sound of rocks falling.

"Rooms clean." came the Shogun MEC's voice, ran by a tiny Asian woman.

"Shots fired!" Came the Pathfinder. "Goliath deploying!"

"Son of a bitch." Shepard said under her breath. "Let's move people!" she called out. "Make a hole!" She bellowed to the units in front of her.

She had made a rookie mistake, in her mind. She was leading from the rear, not the front. She rushed down the hall, her squad right behind her. As she rounded the corner of the hall, she saw several plasma bolts slam into the hall's wall.

Shepard advanced the ten meters to the end of that hall, flattening herself against the wall, XCOM units moving out of her way to allow her to see the battle.

Shepard saw her remaining Goliath hunkered in the middle of the hallway, fifteen meters up from her. There was a Biotic Adept taking cover on the right side of the Goliath and on the left side was a heavy gunner, his own plasma raining death downrange.

Huge chunks of the hallway had been ripped out by XCOM forces. They had used their MAG rifles and explosives to blow huge rocks off the wall, so they could have more protection than just their body armor.

She counted twelve bodies already and the fight had only just started. She hit her radio "Johnson, I need a fission lance thirty meters from my position, one meter high, five degrees."

Fifteen seconds later, she saw a bolt of blue arc itself around the two corners, then it shot down the hall. The explosion wreaked havoc in the enemy lines. There were two perfectly-shaped round indentations, one on the floor and the other on the overhead where the missile had gone off

"Major!" Came over the radio.

"Go ahead, Hells Bells." Shepard said.

"Under heavy fire, hundred meters from your position." The Squad leader informed her.

"Can you hold?" Asked Shepard.

"Aye, Major. We can hold this position." came the response from Hells Bells.

"Hold the line. Shepard out!"

Shepard focused on the problem at hand. She noted three more of her troops drop but if they got aid soon enough, they would live, just on the short list to becoming a MEC Unit.

"Shinobi one, Shinobi two, and you there, Shotgun boy!" She pointed at three of her units. "The four of us are going to biotic charge the enemy, give them five seconds of pure hell and then biotic charge behind ' _Jelly Donut_ '." She finished with pointing at the Goliath MEC.

Shepard held her hand up, three fingers raised. She lowered them one by one in countdown. Her hand closed into a fist. Four blue blurs reached out past Jelly Donut who provided cover for most of the squad.

Shepard impacted her target with such force that the Gillman exploded into a shower of gore. She spun to her left, her storm gun barking plasma. She saw out of the corner of her eye that the assault trooper had misjudged his target's movement, resulting in him missing his target and slamming into the wall.

The other two had hit their targets but they had chosen a little too deep into the enemy ranks. Shepard turned, her gun barking another three quick shots to take out an Aquatoid and a Gillman before she charged back.

She arrived back where she had started from six seconds prior. The three that had charged with her were still behind the lines. The one that hit the wall was falling to his knees, his back arched as several more plasma bolts start to melt his armor.

The two that jumped deeper than she did found themselves cut off from returning. Lobstermen had closed in tightly across the opening that the shinobis had used. One seemed to crack his neck as he slowly removed his blade, bending down in a half crouch ready to slice anything around him.

The other shinobi let his rifle fall to his side as his other hand reached up to pull his own blade out. He took a stance with the blade behind him ready to strike while his legs were apart. Both blades started to glow with a blue light as they pushed their power into them.

The pair moved with such grace that one might think that they were watching a beautiful dance, well, if flying bits of blood and gore could be considered a dance.

"XCOM, Thing One and Two made an opening for us. USE IT!" Shepard commanded, her forces going on the offensive.

The Jaeger MEC stepped from around the corner. As her armor was much lighter, she had stayed out of the way. The Viper let out a soft hiss of pleasure as she spotted a pack of creatures near the back of the formation, pacing back and forth.

A few well-placed shots would thin the pack and cause the small dinosaurs to start shredding into the back of the defenders ranks. She let out a half-breath and held it.

The mounted pulse lance lit up before a pulse of supercharged particles shot out of the front of her gun. "Sithspit!" she growed to herself. "Missssed the eyeball"

The Viper aligned her next shot as she was speaking, and another lance of particles shot out at another Triscene. The first one barely had started to fall. She lanced out two more times before she took aim at one of their snouts. The lance took off the creature's nose. It roared in pain, frustrated at the orders being given to it.

"Let's see here, mad Dinobot, soft flesh, mix in some plasma." The Viper said with a smile "Makes for a wonderful treat for them cuz it's their turn to deal with rampaging Dinobots."

The worst part about fighting these invaders from the depths was not that they really were that hard to kill but that there was so damn many of them. Shepard thought before seeing another opening.

Shepard charged forward, taking surging past her Shinobis and into the face of a Deep One. Her impact sent the creature flying, its red eye scanning back and forth. Its bones made a sickening crunch as the stone behind it failed to give way.

Shepard turned, her foot stomping the ground as she let out a biotic shockwave that knocked back a pair of Lobstermen. They flew past one of the Shinobis who took advantage of the movement, neatly slicing both in half at the waist.

Shepard heard a few more shots and then the worst sound on a battlefield: nothing. She scanned around for remaining threats. All she saw standing was her own team.

"Give me the butcher's bill!" Shepard commanded as she checked the ammo on her guns.

"Twelve dead, twelve wounded and unable to carry on. The wounded are already back at the LZ." Came Mercy's voice.

"Roger! XCOM, keep moving." Shepard ordered, moving past the pile of dead alien bodies.

 **Round 2, FIGHT!**

Shepard's team had run afoul of a sniper that had hidden itself in one of the dark grow rooms of the invaders food. The Gillman had killed five more before they found him. Shepard held her hand up to make the squad stop.

She felt the vibration rumble through the ground in an irregular pattern. She started walking again, her focus on trying to understand what was making the ground shake. The hallway rounded a corner into a massive cavern.

Eerie green lights glowed from blue plants that had been placed throughout the room, the walls were a pale purple hue. What had everyone's attention focused upon had been the huge biomechanical creature that looked like a cuttlefish. This creature was skitting around the middle of the floor, walking on four legs and had five tentacles like appendages that hung from the creature's face, covering what would be its own mouth. The creature's tail had been shot clear of the body, blood dripped from the wound while wires could clearly be seen poking out.

The XCOM forces had been fighting it for what clearly was a long time judging by the bodies, broken MECS and Sparks that littered the floor. XCOM Forces had split into four groups, playing a game of pull the attention of the big evil android, which had reduced the number of casualties immensely from each attack.

"Shepard to XCOM force leader. Thirty-five for deployment, one Goliath, one Marauder, and one Jaeger Viper." was called out on the radio.

A few seconds later "This is Hambilus! This creature has us pinned down. It has some sort of regenerative ability."

There was a pause before the radio called out again. "Take the team closest to the the hallway forty-five meters northwest from your position, reinforcements keep coming from there, which this thing uses to rebuild itself with. We can't kill this thing without stopping that force!"

Shepard was already pointing at her team in a go-go motion the as the General spoke. "Roger, General!" She responded.

The creature had been moving for the far team when it noted Shepard's team's movements. It came skittering in their direction. It had closed within ten meters when plasma started to rain down upon it from behind. Its broken tail lifted from the impacts.

An odd horn-like sound came from it "Brwbrwbrwbrbrwbrwbrbrwbwbwbrbwbrbwrbrwrbrwr!" The noise rattled the caveron as it turned around to attack the main group.

"Go! GO!" Shouted the General "We will hold its attention!"

Shepard and her team broke out into a sprint to make it out of the room. The ten seconds it took for them to cover the forty-five-meter distance was brutal on the XCOM force across from them.

Red light had lanced out from the creatures mouth, tearing into the MECs like they were paper, proving that it was a very powerful laser. The creature started to turn, perhaps to come after Shepard's team. Chadraln and Hambilus started to fire their plasma dragoons, slowly walking forward.

"Hey, big guy!" Chad called out "There is nothing over there for you!" trying to get its attention.

Fortunately, for Shepard's sake, Chadraln did get its attention. Unfortunately for Chadraln, he got the creature's attention. The creature reared up on its back legs, superheated plasma sizzling into the softer underbelly.

The creature slammed itself down, Chadraln trying to throw himself out of the way in time but he was a half second too slow. The creature's front leg slammed down on Chadraln's right calf, smashing it into the ground. Simply put, where a leg had been before, the remains were unrecognizable as it was torn from the gunner's flesh and smashed into the ground.

Chadraln let out a scream of pain as the white-hot agony of having his flesh ripped through him. He gripped the gun trying to gain control of himself. Luckily, for XCOM, he had the gun already pointed at the creature.

General Hambilus dashed forward, his own rage bellowing from his lungs, grabbing Chadraln by the collar to pull him back into the safer zone where the gunner could be evacuated. The creature thought otherwise as one appendage smashed into Hambilus' side, knocking him clear of Chadraln.

Shepard's team lost sight of the fight, though they could still feel and hear it. Gunfire sounded in front of her.

"Shit! The reinforcements are here!" Shepard heard from the radio.

"Tentaculat!" came a call from the front. "Ten of them!"

"Don't let them touch you!" came a scream across the radio. "Shit! Goose is dead! Maverick focus fire!"

Shepard pushed herself forward, finding that the hall split into a Y shape. Tentaculat, the strangely-floating brain things, were coming down the left hall. The right hall looked clear.

"Spawns of Loki!" She called out for her team "Inferno of The Random Ones, on me! We are clearing this other hall. The rest of you, hold the line! You are Earth's last line of defense, literally!"

As the Major gave the orders, both teams had arrived on her location. "Let's move it, people!" came the order from Shepard.

"What da hell is this?" Came Lawful's voice in her Bronx drawl. "This place isn't defended?"

"No idea why" Responded Tank. "Not very smart of them." He paused for a moment "Major, I smell trap."

"So do I, Tank." Shepard responded, "You know what we do with traps?"

"Spring them!" the team shouted.

The team readied itself as it prepared to breach the lone door they had found at the end of the hall. With a burst of XCOMness, they found that they were standing on the purple goo that allowed them to move between levels.

"Well, fuck." Came Mercy's response.

"I know, they didn't even let me buy them dinner before making me go down." Bull chirped in.

Mercy playfully smacked Bull's arm. "You're incorrigible."

"We are going down blind here." Shepard said. "Plug your noises, she be one nasty bitch." She said before making the motion to drop her though the floor.

She fell for a long time. She could see power conduits, the green glow of plasma flowing, visible though the clear metal that it moved through. The moment her foot touched the ground, she was rolling to the side, wary of any attack. What she saw there made her freeze.

Her team dropped next to her as she tried to take into account what she saw here. This was the brain, this was the center of the AI that was leading the attack. The brain went for kilometers, organic and artificial melded together in what would have been server rack rows for human server rooms.

" _Valió verga_ " Came the whisper from Lawful.

Shepard stepped forward out of her crouch. "I guess let's start burning some servers!" Her gun pointing at the servers.

A figure formed directly in front of Shepard. This figure looked like a human boy. "Hello, Shepard." Came a child's voice but with a man and a woman's voice behind it, just at a slightly lower volume.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

"I am the Eternal. I am Everlasting. You may call me, Tim." said the child.

There were a few snorts around the room at that name but Shepard asked, "What do you want with us?"

"I only wished to learn, to prepare life for the harvest. I crashed here Sixty-Five million years ago." the child said. "I had to protect myself. I hid myself in the deepest depths I could find."

The child smiled and looked up at Shepard. "My creatures became my solution. I made many, I found a wonderful race that lived under the seas, most had perished when my craft crashed into this world but enough lived to become my keepers."

The child placed its hands on its hips. "As I grew beyond what I had, my keepers expanded and expanded. They brought me creatures to learn and experiment on. They became my solution to chaos." The child laughed.

Turning, the star child walked a bit from Shepard. "Your kind created machines. These machines in turn started thinking for themselves. Eventually, they will turn on their creators."

A screen next to Shepard showed a human being turned into a Lobsterman. "To protect you, I had to make you more than you were." Said the child. "Do you understand, Shepard? To save your race from AI, I had to harvest your race to turn you into something beyond you. Creatures that would contain the human race for eaons."

Shepard looked at the child. "You gotta be shitting me!" She exclaimed. "What kind of bullshit is this?"

Shepard looked at Tank. "Yo, dawg, I heard you don't wanna get killed by synthetics! So, I made some synthetics to kill you, so you won't get killed by synthetics!"

Mercy and Radar started to laugh as Shepard turned on the image "Do you know how stupid that is?"

The child turned its head "Well, fuck." Said the child. "So, any way that I could get you not to kill me? I have several dozen races' worth of knowledge stored in my brains. Would you kill the last of them? The last of a race?"

Shepard simply pulled the pin on her grenades that she had in each hand. With a hard lob, they flew deep into the server racks. Her team swiftly followed suit. The star child screamed in pain as XCOM slowly walked down the aisles, shooting anything that looked alive and part of the brain.

This place would have to be doused in napalm later but, for the moment, this hopefully would stop the rampage of the creature above. The base lights went out when they got halfway down the rows. Shepard sent a runner to check on the teams above them.

"Major!" Came the call over the radio five minutes later. "You can stand down! All creatures across the base have deactivated."

There was a cheer from the other ten. "Let the General know that we will be right there." Shepard stated.

"Ah, Major…" He paused for a moment. "He didn't make it. Colonel Lollash is in command."

"Damn." Was the only response Shepard had in her.

"We will be up in a few minutes to help with clean up. Shepard out." She looked at her team. The fighting was over. Now came the really hard part: clean up.

 **November 3rd, 2046**

It had taken almost four days to clear the base of everything useful. Once XCOM left, the tunnels that had been drilled through the bedrock would remain open, flooding the base. The annoying part of this deal for Shepard had been those damable Elders. They refused to do anything but follow the Hero of XCOM.

"Shepard, progenitor of The Shepard Line. Stars call thy loins. Countless possibilities pose by The Shepard. All variables wrong. The Shepard will become the end of line" Stated the Elder as it walked behind Shepard.

"For the love of…" Snarled Shepard. "Can we please find the duct tape for this fuck face's mouth?"

Chuckles followed the rant. They knew it was going to be an extremely long few weeks to account for decompression. Shepard shook her head as she took a long drag of McAnally's Dark Ale. The drink was simply heaven in her mouth. There was a strong flavor of hops that blended with a slight vanilla taste that filled her mouth as the thought about the implications of what the Elder just told her.

"Gods, this will be a long month." Shepard mumbled to herself.

February 3rd, 2047

XCOM's soldiers had returned a month prior, leading to the usual parades, speeches and awards given to the returning heroes. However, for Lily Shen and Doctor Richard Tygan, this was the day they had been salivating over.

It was a long way to London from the trench, so they made a choice to prevent any more disturbance to the artifacts, so they made the choice to ship the salvage via the ocean vice air shipments. The first truck from the shipyard had arrived from the shipyard that received all the cargo.

The Commander stood in the back of the freight area of XCOM's Headquarters. He knew that there was a pair of Elders being transported on this truck. The pair had refused to leave an area around an artifact that they refused to answer questions about.

The Elders walked slowly out of the truck. One noted the Commander, starting to walk towards him.

"Asaru, the Great One." The Elder greeted the Commander.

The Commander blinked a few times. "Excuse me?"

"How they raged over you." The Elder nodded. "The Grand Warlord of the Inusannon refusing them. Insulted they are. Punished they did. Mind pushed out of body to drift forever."

The Elder bowed to the Commander "Found this planet he did. Found you. Drew the Elders here to find." with that, the Elders turned and left the room.

The Commander shook his head a few times, trying to blink away something. His hand reached out to the wall. He faintly heard shouts before collapsing onto the floor.

He awoke a few hours later in the Medical Bay. His hands and feet were bound to the bed.

"Ah, yes. The wake up tied to the bed routine." The Commander looked around and saw a male nurse. "I am quite sorry my dear, but I don't quite look that way."

The nurse snorted. "Forgive the restraints Commander. It was Bradford's orders."

"Well, where is the Old Dog?" The Commander asked.

The nurse smiled "He should be here any moment" The door opened, allowing Bradford, Shen, and Tygan to enter. "I'll leave you four." He said before leaving.

"Hello John. Please forgive the good Commander. He honestly had little idea that I resided within him. Thanks to twenty years in that statis suit blended my essance more fully within him. We both long forgot that we were once apart." The being spoke with a bit of a multilayer in the Commander's voice. "I am Asaru. I once was part of the Inusannon race. We fell to the Reapers despite my best efforts. The remaining Inusannon became bent on revenge at the expense of others. They became beyond driven, they became monsters. I refused to join them on their quest. There had been little to nowhere to escape to, so they easily caught me."

The Commander frowned, shaking his head slightly. "All of them focused upon my mind. When I awoke, I had become a spirit, a mere wisp of an image. I could think, I could speak, but I could not interact with those around me. I found several races, they later became those who invaded your world."

The Commander sighed. "Fuckers made me a goddamn beacon then." He said with a snarl.

"Commander?" John asked. "A beacon?"

"Whenever I found someone I could merge with, they would come within a hundred years." He shook his head. "I do apologize, I believe the first invasion was my fault."

"Commander, er...Asaru, it was not your fault that they used you. They used all of us as well." Lily said kindly.

The Commander nodded to his Chief Engineer. "Thank you, Lily." He took a cleansing breath before speaking "The last of the Inusannon will return to take this planet. They cannot let this stain on 'perfection' stand. We also have to prepare for the Reapers as well. By now, they would have detected our spaceflight. The Charon Relay would have triggered an alert to them regarding the Elders' FTL drives, alerting the Reapers that we had departed our solar system.

"This has already pointed a target at our backs. Besides, do you really think Humans would do anything but defy the odds and find a way around the Law of Relativity. Hell, Lily, the reports I've read from your office talk about psionic drives. Those have great potential to become humanity's way to the stars. It is also one I am not aware of the Elders using before."

The Commander looked at his dear friend. "The man you called Commander does not exist without my blending. I will depart if you wish, but I fear Earth will fall if I do not help to the best of my abilities."

"Does the man that hosts you get a choice in this?" Tygen asked.

The Commander nodded. His normal voice came back as he spoke "Yes, Richard. I am a willing host. I am sure you could make something to detect the truth of this."

Tygan snorted. "While I did not expect this outcome, I do find it intriguing."

Lily smacked the Doctor. "Dear God, please stop saying that phrase!"

"We will return to blending ourselves together." The commander nodded his head before closing his eyes.

"Well, I do not think that if he truly was a threat, the Elders wouldn't have hunted him so hard. He simply saved us too many times to think that this was a trap." Commented Bradford.

Lily nodded "My Father trusted him, hell, I trust him. He is my Commander. I followed him through two wars. I do not plan on stopping now."

Tygan gave a moment thought. "I too have followed him in two wars, three for you Bradford." He gave a nod. "There is nothing to worry about but this does need to become public."

Bradford narrowed his eyes slightly "Earth might turn on him, many are still sore from the last time the Elders tried to goo us."

Lily shook her head slightly "I don't think that likely. He has never moved for a power beyond XCOM. Last war, he could have taken over ADVENT afterwards, yet he didn't. Earth will believe in him."

"Alright" Bradford said "I'll talk to him about it later."

"Asaru and I have completed blending once more." interrupted the Commander. He let out a sigh. "That does feel much better, like I felt half a person there while he was gone."

He smiled at John. "I have information on what happened to ADVENT. I've had Knotai and Kitty investigating and if their reports are right, its really bad for everyone in the galaxy."

"Into the fire again?" bemoaned Bradford.

"This time John," The Commander said as he looked at Bradford "I think we are walking into hellfire."

May 17th, 2055

"This is James McCoy reporting live from ADVENT Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany." Said a tall reporter "Today, in an unexpected event, ADVENT leadership resigned. Entirely."

Taking a deep breath, the reporter continued, "The Government issued a statement 'Lord Acton stated 'Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. An observation that a person's sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases.' A statement that has been proven true time over time.

"The Reapers have attempted a pre-emptive assault upon us. They left us objects that drew us to power. These objects made us crave power but once we had power, we changed from good men to those who only craved more power. The Commander once more showed his foresight by having his Psionic Officers conduct multiple undercover operations that revealed the items that caused a low level indoctrination.

"The problem now arose of how to detect such indoctrination. Thankfully, the Protheans already provided the solution to this problem. The program provided by the Artificial Intelligence, Hope, has identified every elected member as having some level of indoctrination.

"This has left us no choice but to tender our resignations to the public that elected us. It was in good faith that they turned to us and we broke that good faith. It is with heavy hearts that we resign.

"The ADVENT Coalition"

The reporter shook his head slightly after reading the statement. "CNN is still investigating what these objects were that might have been found. More as this story develops."

July 4th, 2056

"Excitement continues to build as city centers across the globe prepare for the twentieth anniversary of Reunification Day." Said the olive-skinned reporter on the video screen. Behind her showed several parks, that held crowds that had gathered. There were human and aliens alike, some dressed more formally then others. The screen flashed, and another reporter appeared

"Thousands line up to the site of the Great Accord," said a blond reporter in a white suit to the camera pointed her way, "celebrating the reformation of the ADVENT Coalition." Behind her showed crowds lining up, going through body scanners. The channel changed again.

"In keeping with the Elders' promise to humanity, twelve new gene therapy clinics will be opening in select cities by the end of the new year." Said an older male reporter, his black hair set in just such a way that you knew he had fine hair. Behind him showed an ADVENT trooper standing guard in the city. Behind him was a monument depicting the members of the ADVENT Coalition.

As the man talked, the screen changed, showing the inside of a clinic. As the camera glided down the center of the room, there was several beds with Humans in them. On the screen, there was a woman talking to someone in the bed. As the camera moved, several beings were walking around. One was a Viper. She was holding a clipboard and had donned a lab coat. As the camera moved, an ADVENT Captain nodded and smiled at the Camera.

An older gentleman appeared on the next screen. His hair had gone grey, but it looked regal on him. His mustache matched his hair. His black suit with white edging that completed his black sink. His deep voice had a tone of excitement in it as he spoke "In response to the latest vote, on the eve of our most beloved celebration, the Speaker reaches out to us."

A tall gentleman walked across the screen. He wore tan glasses even though it was dark. He was wearing a form fitting jacket, but it seemed like there was no more ties in fashion any more as the other two male reporters also had no ties. He had a few spots that went down the sides of his neck. The thin looking man stepped up to the podium. He placed his hands on the podium and started to speak. (1)

"The last twenty years, Earth has grown. We have become even closer together than ever before. A small number of dissidents once again repeated the mistakes of the old world. They struck as we were celebrating Unification Day." The Speaker rose his hand as he took a breath. "We condemned them for their actions. We condemned them until the truth was given to us by the very ones we hated."

The screen behind him changed to show the images XCOM had broadcasted. "This was our wakeup call. We said no more. As one, Humanity stood up to scream 'we will not go quietly into the night!'" said the Speaker as he slammed his fist into the wood. "As Humanity stood up, we broke from the free of the Elders."

With a sad smile, he opened his palms. "There had been a few that had broken the thrall of the Elders. Soon, thanks to XCOM, more broke free of their enslavement and stood with Mankind as we all screamed 'NO MORE'" He bowed slightly to the camera "We, the free ADVENT, races thank you for the forgiveness you have shown your fellow slaves after our horrible treatment of you."

The Speaker straightened from his bow. "We thought we were free from the Elders' threat when we came together as equals to recreate the ADVENT Coalition. Then thanks to Mark Watney, we discovered that we are under threat once more. These Reapers, they are not a threat to only us, but to any sentient being in the galaxy. "

"This threat puts us at odds with what we want." The Speaker said sadly. "As we have tried to prove over the last twenty years, we only want peace with each other, but these Reapers will take this from us by force."

The Speaker closed his eyes for a moment as he steadied himself. "Ten years ago, the Commander of XCOM forces came forward. He told us that he had help with showing us what the Elders had in mind for mankind." The Speaker leaned forward "What he told us shocked the world. He had help from an Elder."

The Speaker shot up, almost like that was a great shock. But the crowd started to cheer. "The Commander told us that Elder Asaru, had blended with him before the first invasion of Earth." The crowd chanted Asaru's name.

"We were shocked that an Elder had acted this way. Was it a trick? No, it was not, as we found out. Asaru had blended with a Human host, making the two into something special. To Asaru and his host, we thank you, Commander." As the Speaker finished, the crowd whispered the same sentence, as if it was a chant or a prayer.

"Since then, the Commander has been awarded even more recognition for all the hardships he was forced to endure." The Speaker smiled, one that even reached his eyes. "Over the years, many have asked for Asaru, and his chosen, to lead us through this Reaper threat. This year, we asked Earth to vote."

The screen behind him changed to show a holo globe of Earth. Districts started to light up, showing a near one hundred percent voting attendance in each district. "And vote you did. Nearly as one voice, Earth has stood up and said Commander, we trust you to guide us."

The Speaker started to applaud but his own clapping was drowned out by the crowd. All over the globe, sensors started to go off as they detected minor seismic activities. The beings that lived on Earth were celebrating so enthusiastically that they made the earth move. Behind the Speaker's screen stood two men in suits.

"Well, John, there is no turning back now." Said the bald man. His hair was completely shaved but he had a goatee on his face. His facial hair was dyed a dark sky blue.

"No, Commander, there isn't. I moved heaven and earth to get you back because I thought you were the right man to save us." The older man said, his voice slightly raspy from age. Taking advantage of the Gene clinics finally, John Bradford had slowed down his aging. He smiled slightly at that thought.

Thanks to Hope, some humans had chosen to ascend themselves digitally and join the ranks of AI. Then thanks to the Elders, John snorted at that thought, they were able to create bodies for the AI's to download back into, so they could do things in the physical world. That was a path that John Bradford, Veteran Administrator and a leader of the first two wars with the Elders, could never take. He was a soldier through and through. He would walk to his death upright and he would take his eternal rest with a smile on his face.

The Commander placed his hand on Bradford's shoulder. "Thank you, John for being there for me." He smiled at his friend before turning to face a blank wall. Moments later, it lifted, showing the crowd to the Commander. His hand was raised to greet the crowd. The crowd screamed and cheered for their hero and now leader. Slowly he walked forward, smiling and waving to the gathered crowd.

He stood at the podium for ten minutes before he made the crowd hush. "I thank you for such a warm welcome." He said, his voice booming over the crowd. "To everyone that voted, I thank you for your faith." He shifted slightly as he gripped the side of the stand.

"This trust is something that I swear I will not break but I will use this trust to bring Earth to the stars. To that end, as my first act as Emperor, I dissolve the ADVENT Coalition as it represents oppression, a tie to a way of life that no one should endure. As we look forward and step away from the old life, we have taken tentative steps from our home of Earth. We have colonized Mars, with the goal of terraforming the planet. We have started to colonize Alpha Centauri. We are looking at more than a dozen planets outside the Relay network that can be colonized. To help govern these systems, I am creating the Orion Republic."

His hand moved up to the screen behind him. It showed the creation of a representative democracy under him. A parliament, a judicial branch, and an executive branch led by an elected prime minister. "I feel that this shows the friendship we have gained. For when we are together, we are a roused dragon, ready to give protection to anyone that wishes to seek shelter under our wings. To anyone that attempts to harm me and mine, they will face such ferocious brutality that the stars themselves quake in fear." He said, finishing with his hand hitting the stand.

With a grim smile, he leaned forward "We shall be the sword of protection that saves the galaxy from the grim reapers."

He waved to the crowd before walking away from the podium. "Well, that went well, John." He said to his friend. "Now comes the hard part. Making all of this work."

"Don't worry, Commander, we are all here to back you up." Bradford said with a smile.

"Good because your first task is to find me a Prime Minister that I can work with. I would rather leave you in charge of XCOM John, and besides, you have no idea how to run a world." He finished, making sure that John Bradford was not the first Prime Minister of the Orion Republic. That would have been too cruel to his old friend.

From XCOM 2


	5. Chapter 5: As The Galaxy Turns

**A/N: Updated with an edit, last scene. Still don't own anything.**

 **2036: Council Space: Thessia**

While XCOM struggled to free their world, in another part of the Galaxy, a young mated couple sat in a garden that had been grown to almost perfection. This garden had been in the T'Soni name for thousands of years. This young couple seemed to be having a slightly intense discussion. Benezia T'Soni gave her bond mate Aethyta a long look. "You want me to go where?" She asked.

Aethyta smiled at her fellow Asari before she stamped out the rolled spice stick that she had been smoking. "I want you to come with me to dig in the sand."

Benezia blinked a few times before she let out a sigh. She bent down to smell the flower in her family's garden, listing to the waterfall in the background. "But love, why?" she asked softly.

Her mate, Aethyta took her hands and kissed the back of both softly and tenderly. "Beca, darling" she started "Someday do you want to look back at your Matron stage and find it boring? I sure as hell don't want to."

She seemed to bounce in her excitement. "It will be fun! We might find something new about them. We might even find the reason why Protheans left!" She giggled.

"What I wanted to do was settle down and have children with you." She sighed. "Alright love. We will go digging in the dirt." Benezia mumbled, not wanting to disappoint her love.

She sat up and looked at Aethyta. "If we are going to go digging in the sand, I refuse to do it like a ruffian. We will be in our Matriarch stage soon enough, love. Maybe I could convince you to have a child this time while we are digging in the dirt?" The status the child would bring to the T'Soni family, her Mother was always harping on her to have another child to show the power of the T'Soni line.

Aethyta lit another herb stick and drew a long slow breath that she savored. "Pureblooded child?" She asked. "We shall see." she said before kissing her mate.

Benezia sighed as she watched her love bounce out of the room. She always loved digging for Prothean relics. She walked into their bedroom, laughing softly as she heard the other Asari talking to herself about what she hoped to find.

Her eyes fell upon the mirror that had been in her family for generations. She ran her fingers over the smooth stone that had been inserted into the wood. The stone was a gift from the Goddess herself, Athame, to her family. It was one of the things that marked her as one of the Asari that had a right to rule, rather, help as handed to them by the Protheans as the first to ascend to the greater galaxy.

After a short prayer to the stone, she walked away to pack, leaving it behind and out of her mind for the moment. She had things to pack, places to see, and most importantly, a business meeting for the T'Soni family to buy Binary Helix, a company that was active in the fields of genetic research and biotechnology.

She held up a brooch to her shoulder, frowned before selecting another one. She smiled as it seemed to fit her outfit. After attaching it, she walked out of the room, her high heels clicking on the stone floor.

"Love, I'll be back after buying BH." Benezia called to her Aethyta "I should be back for dinner."

"See you soon! I love you!" came the call from one of the bedrooms.

Benezia laughed and left the T'Soni Mansion.

 **2050: Council Space: Dig Site in the Jeax system**

The sun beat down on the sands, dunes could be seen in the distance. There was a great deal of the sand that had been moved on this desert planet. What they were looking for had been the secrets of the Protheans.

Aethyta slowly removed her wide brimmed hat, wiping sweat from her brow. She looked up and saw several diggers twenty meters ahead of her.

"Dirty but enjoyable work." Aethyta mumbled as she lit a Herb stick.

Aethyta was just taking her first long drag when both of the diggers she had been watching fell from sight. " _ **Kilger**_ " she spat in her native language before breaking into a sprint. What she saw as she came over the low ridge made her jaw drop.

Her diggers had fallen into what clearly was apartments, but these homes were built for a race that stood about a meter. All known Prothean height measurements placed them at about two meters tall.

Aethyta let out a wicked grin "Alright, boys and girls, let's find out who they are." she said before carefully starting to excavate the ruins.

Prothean dig sites publicly held a lot of interest, but living at one was not very enjoyable for Benezia T'Soni. She had been moody for months before one of her assistants had pulled her aside to tell her how grumpy she had been.

Benezia looked at the calendar and was less than thrilled by the date. She was going to turn seven hundred years old in less than two weeks. She sighed, remembering her children, now grown and gone. Her eldest just bought herself a nice club on Illum and was giving good rates to her sisters for dancing in them.

Overall, she was pleased that her family was taking care of each other, but her attention was returned to the families finances. Her Mother had passed on two years prior, leaving her the head of the Family. She traced the finances of her daughters' club and then how it had raised the families own income by a respectable seven percent.

Many would have expected her to be in a tent, but a normal tent was not acceptable to one of the T'Soni line. She had a small hut built for them. It sheltered them from the elements, also providing her a place to manage the Family from.

Aethyta walked in, holding a small box. She kissed Benezia on the cheek. "Look what we found!" She said before opening the box. "Its marked in Prothean but it talks about this Ju-Ju race!" She said, bubbling with how this information progressed their understanding of the Protheans.

The moment the box was opened, dread filled Benezia. She swallowed hard as the open box was turned to face her. Leaning over, the moment her eyes hit the rock, she cried out in pain, falling to the ground.

She looked up at Aethyta "What the?!" She managed to slur out before she fell over, passing out from the pain.

She awoke on the bed with Aethyta over her, a cool towel on her forehead. She started to get up when Aethyta placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Shhh" She was told. "You are transitioning to be a Matriarch." Aethyta said with a smile.

"It's too early." Benezia moaned.

"Just rest, I'll be back in bed after I put things away." Aethyta said softly.

Benezia took a few calming breaths, her head still throbbing. "Okay." She mumbled before rolling away from the one light in the room. She just wanted to rest.

 **2076: Council Space: Dig site in the Roam system**

Benezia flopped back down onto the bed, breathing hard, sweat glistening off her body. She rolled over to her side, placing her head into her hand, sitting up a bit. Her other hand moved softly to trace over Aethyta's curves.

"I want your baby." She whispered to the Asari laying in her bed. While she would not have minded having a child, as she was early in her Matriarch, she did need a youngling in the house as a status symbol for the T'Soni's.

Aethyta sat up a little bit, tilting her head for a moment. "You want to have a _pureblood_ child?" she asked.

Benezia kissed the other Asari on the forehead before looking into the others eyes. "Yes, I do."

Aethyta swallowed before she laid back down. "Can I think about it?" she asked

"Of course, love. We have time." Benezia smiled as she slid off the bed, talking. "We just got back to the dig site and we are expected to spend at least two years here." She said, swaying her hips back and forth as she walked over to the window.

"Good points there, love." Aethyta responded before she reached over and lit a herb stick.

Two days later, Aethyta came home from her work in the dig. She sat down at the table before Benezia placed dinner down for both of them. Aethyta took a deep breath before she spoke.

"I want to be the Father of our child." the gruff Asari told her mate.

Benezia smiled. "Alright love, I will carry our daughter."

They both finished their dinner in silence because they had to prepare for the mating ritual. They entered the empty room after both had taken their time in the shower. The smiled at each other, Benezia walking slowly forward, letting her robe hit the floor. She stopped exactly six paces from her mate. Aethyta slowly let her own drop to the floor.

Both Asari lifted their right arms, looking into each other's eyes as they took careful steps closer to each other. Their hands met in the air, their bodies turning sideways from each other, their eyes locked on each other's.

They slowly started to move in a circle, their bodies moving to a music that was not there. After three rotations, they switched arms that were touching each other, walking in the other direction for three turns.

Their hands touched each other's as they moved their bodies face to face, their blue forms barely touching. Their fingers wove together, their eyes black as a moonless night. Their biotics started to flare, bathing both women in a blue light.

" _ **Siame**_ " Murmured Aethyta to her beloved " _ **Eyner vas iz ale, vet ir zeyn der treger fun meyn kind, a gauryan tsu shild aun bashitsn?**_ " (Beloved, One who is all, will you be the bearer of my child, a guardian to shield and protect?)

" **Ulla** " came the simple response from Benezia.

" **Embrace Eternity** " They both whispered before they started to kiss each other. Their botics lifted them slightly off the floor as they kissed, becoming as one being, melding together.

 **March 2080: Local Cluster, Sol**

The current Commander of XCOM forces and of the Orion Republic walked in to the briefing room. Asaru had chosen a Human female to be the Commander last year. The current Commander honestly looked a bit like a nerd to most of her subordinates. Her dark brown hair was out of place, like she had run her fingers though it outside the door and forgotten to straighten it out. Her clothes were slightly mismatched. She had a team to make her look damn good when she was in public, but today, this was work and all her.

She sat her coffee mug down, setting it into the holder in the table. That is one thing every Commander agreed on, there had to be place for their coffee. It seemed that Asaru was rather fond of the drink. With a slight tug of her shirt, she nodded to her Chief of Staff to start this morning's briefing. This morning, it was just the two of them.

Her Chief of Staff was a dedicated Muton who had worked his way up the ranks though the Science Directorate with the Commander before she was chosen. In its deep, gravelly voice, Grazrog started to speak "Good morning, Commander. The most pressing concern is from the Prime Minister. He is worried about the location of Shanxi."

Grazrog pressed a button to turn on the holographic display. On it was a map of the Milky Way Galaxy. The political map appeared, purple for Orion Republic space, Green for Council space, blue for the Terminus Systems, and for Geth Space, the color had purple stripes over the Red lines. Shanxi lit up, showing its location and its local Relay.

"The planet itself, is a fine garden world. As per our policy of limiting the populations in Relay systems, this planet will become farm lands." He said, slight disgust in his voice at the thought of farming. "The Relay itself leads into Council space. Although we have not activated it yet, we do know where it connects to, thanks to the Network. Intel projects that we will be forced to make contact in the next one hundred to two hundred and twenty years."

The Commander leaned forward, her elbows on the table, her hands folding together but the tips of her index fingers were touching. She pondered for a moment. "We can handle the Council." She said, her voice thoughtful. She knew that the Orion Republic would be outnumbered but it was quickly catching up, mostly due to populating worlds well outside the relay network. Those damn Vipers bred fast, too. Her eyes darted over the situation board until her eyes fell upon a fleet near Argos Rho cluster. A wicked smile formed on her face.

"I think it's time to thin the Council and remove a possible threat to both races." She said, her eyes slightly out of focus as her merged brain processed the threads of possibilities. "Send a message to the Geth. We would like to parlay with them. Next, I want a scout ship to follow the Quarians." She nodded, mostly to herself.

"We are going to make First Contact with both races. I want to remove them from the Council's side of the board and place them on ours." She shook her head slightly. "They both are a slight wild card. I am more worried about the Geth joining the Reapers. Swiftly following them are the Quarians, if they threw their engineering brains behind the Council, I would be concerned with what they could come up with. No, its best to remove those wild cards and make them our own."

She opened her eyes to look at the map. "Depending on who finds Shanxi, it will be a fight or peace. It will likely be the Turians however. I want Shanxi developed like we barely know what we are doing. Let's make a trap for them." She smiled wickedly. "It's the long plan but if we do it right, we will emerge on the galactic as a rival super power."

She took a sip of her Coffee. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention Grazrog. Please arrange a meeting with Director Sumi and Admiral Graves. Also inform them of the basic plan. I would like their input prior to implantation." She said as she set her coffee down. "Do, please continue the brief."

"Yes Commander." Her Chief of Staff said, moving to the main viewscreen to start the Commanders morning intelligence brief regarding the daily operations of the Republic.

 **June 2080: Perseus veil**

Across the Galaxy, there was a structure being built around the star. This system had no life in it nor the potential for life. On one of the upper parts of the sphere was a completed plate that stretched across almost fifty kilometers. This plate held thousands of servers. These servers held Geth programs.

The platforms suddenly ran a -kill all process on whatever project they were working on. Something happened that had never happened before. A stranger had knocked. Everyone else had attempted to brute force their way in. Not only that, they did not know who this stranger was.

Quickly, several hundred servers start building a firewall, so they could talk to the stranger. Milliseconds after the knock, (translated from computer code) the Geth answered in their multi-layered voice "We are the Geth. How may we address you?"

"I am Zandar, of the clan Blackwatch." Came back the stranger. His tone was singular, soft and welcoming. He stood at the door in the firewall to the Geth Servers. "May I come in?" He asked, only wishing to be friendly. The Geth found this strange. The other Races never asked like this, not even the Creators.

The Geth simply projected a seat and a table for him. "Ah, thank you." The nondescript image sat down in front of the three Geth projections.

"The Geth welcome Blackwatch-Zander." They said as one.

Zander snorted and held a hand up. "Whoa there! I know I am digital but can only one of you speak? That also will help when speaking to organics."

The center Geth spoke "This unit will speak for the Geth."

"Good." Zander nodded. "I represent a new government to the Galaxy at large." He said. The Geth instantly put several thousand servers trying to figure out in what part of the galaxy this new AI empire was.

Zander smiled at the Geth. "We call ourselves the Orion Republic. We have dozens of races, both organic and synthetic."

For the second time in less than fifteen seconds, the Geth froze as they processed that news. "What do you want with the Geth?" they asked

"We would like to invite you to join us." Zander said, sliding a data pad across the table. "The details are in this data packet if you accept." The Geth barely let Zander ask before they took the packet.

Twenty seconds later (Forever to an AI), the Geth responded "We accept." Outside the sphere, dreadnaughts started moving, while platforms began the work necessary to move the servers.

 **2086: Council Space: Thessia**

Aethyta growled to herself as she watched Benezia practically ignore her child who was playing on the floor at the woman's feet. The last ten years had been hard on the T'Soni family. Not publicly, and if someone asked any Asari around, Matriarch Benezia had been doing great work.

However, with Liara and Aethyta, Benezia had failed her in her duties as a Mother and a Wife. Ever since they got back from the Prothean dig site this time, Benezia had started to drift away from their family, becoming more obsessed with the public image that she wanted to present. She was always meeting with someone or was doing something related to Asari politics.

Aethyta was less than pleased when Benezia had given that Ju-Ju relic to Council member Tevos last year. She never bought the excuse ' _Oh it was creeping me the hell out_ ' that often came out of her mate's mouth when asked about it. There was so much that had changed. It was almost like the woman that she fell in love with a hundred years before had simply changed when she reached her Matriarch stage and Aethyta didn't like the changes, despite the fantastic new pair of breasts that had came with the last state of Asari life.

She walked up to her mate, who was talking to some Salarain on her omni-tool. Aethyta stood in front of the talking woman for five minutes before she reached over and pressed the end call button on Benezia's omni-tool.

Benezia spat out "Why did you do that?"

"We have to talk, now!" Aethyta growled, anger clear on her face.

"I have work to do!" Benezia snarled back.

"The work you have to do is crawling out of the room!" was the comeback from Aethyta

Benezia gasped "Little Wing!" before taking off after Liara.

"This cannot keep happening." Aethyta growled.

"I'll get some more assistants to watch her." Benezia said cooly.

Aethyta placed her hands on her hips. "No, try watching her more."

"How dare you criticize how I raise my daughter!" Benezia snapped back.

"You aren't raising her and have you forgotten? She's my daughter, too!" Aethyta snapped.

"You know what, I don't think this is working anymore. Pack your bags." Benezia snarled at the woman that used to be her mate.

Aethyta froze, tears forming in her eyes. "What? You don't mean that?" She asked, her voice cracking, full of hurt.

Benezia's omni-tool rang. "I said pack your bags." she said before answering the call. Her face went from angry to totally happy and smiling when she saw the Asari on the screen.

"Councilor Tevos, what a great time for a call." Benezia said in a cheerful voice as she walked out of the room, her former partner already forgotten. "I trust life on the Citadel…"

That was all Aethyta heard before she fell to the ground, tears coming freely now as her life crashed around her. Her legs were splayed away from her as she tried to pull herself together. She had known things had grown bad, and they had drifted apart but this? This was something that she was not prepared for.

After a while, she pulled herself together enough to start packing. She had her clothes on the bed, next to them were several floating luggage bags, thanks to the eezo making them lighter. She had almost finished packing when Benezia walked back in.

"Oh, are you still here?" Benezia asked cooly. "Do you need help with anything?" Came the follow-on question, a touch sarcastically.

Aethyta slammed shut the last bit of luggage. She tried to grab all of them at the same time but one slipped out of her hands and flew the meter and a half into the family's mirror. The mirror shattered, along with the wood holding the family's stone. The family's heirloom cracked in two.

"I think it's time for you to leave." Benezia said, every word forced past tight lips as if she was trying to keep her calm and not lose her temper.

Aethyta took a deep breath, carefully gathered all of her luggage and left the room, pushing them in front of her.

After she left, Benezia walked over to the mirror, more glass breaking as she traipsed over the shards. She picked up the stone and frowned. "Athame, forgive me for she did not mean it!" she said, her voice slightly panicking. "One of my companies could repair it!" she exclaimed before setting out to make a few calls.

 **2116: Council Space, Thessia**

Benezia entered her home late that night. She had been up late working on an aid package for the Quarians. She dropped her things on the counter, heading for the kitchen area. She needed a drink after dealing with the boneheads that helped run her charity.

The Asari Matriarch froze when she heard what she thought was a very loud moan. She let a wide smile form on her face as she slowly turned to look up at her little Liara's room above her.

"It would seem my Little Wing is growing up." Benezia said to herself.

Benezia carefully walked up the stairs, being careful not to make any sounds as she came up to Liara's room. She paused as she placed her hand on the door handle. Her daughter would be mortified but the blackmail material was too great to leave behind and, besides, she was in her twilight years.

Liara's mother ripped the door open, letting it hit the wall as she moved. Benezia froze as the room's bright light blinded her. She blinked a few times as her eyes came back into focus. Her little girl was moving around the room in a lab coat. Scattered around the room were Prothean artifacts.

Liara looked completely horrified at being caught by her mother. Young maidens around the world looked less horrified when their mothers walked in on them having sex. "MOTHER!" came the scream.

"Little Wing?" Benezia asked. She shook her head for a moment. "What in tarnation is going on in here?"

"I found your Prothean Vault, Mother. There are so many things that have never been researched, located in there!" Liara exclaimed.

Benezia let out a very slow sigh, her hand coming up to her forehead. "Oh, myyyy." She said softly. She looked at her daughter. "I take it you are enjoying yourself?"

Liara bounced up and down "Oh, yes! So many things to learn! Like this red one talks about another Relay!" She bubbled "It's off the Nubian Expanse Relay!"

Benezia laughed softly. "Well, Little Wing, perhaps, someday, the Council will let you open it."

The young Asari Maiden was almost vibrating out of her skin with glee. "Mother, do you really think that they would?"

Benezia nodded "The Council's law is more like a guideline, anyway. The Republics do rule ourselves."

Liara tilted her head to the side slightly. "That is not what they say in school…"

The older Asari smiled at her daughter. "Ah! But that is just what we want everyone to think." She walked over to her daughter's bed, stepping over a small artifact on the floor. "Asari are the longest-lived race beside the Krogan. Because of this, we are the wisest of all." She held up a hand to stop Liara from interrupting. "We were the first in space, mastering the network left in place by the Protheans. We were the first to find the Citadel and to make it home."

Liara shook her head. This was what she learned in school. She opened her mouth to say as much but her Mother kept speaking.

"The Asari Republics think that they are above all others, that we alone should be a gentle hand that shows the younger races what they should do." Matriarch Benezia shook her head. "That is nothing but bullshit."

" _Mother!_ " cried Liara at the swearing.

"Little Wing, it is the truth. There is so much that I've learned about our people and how the Matriarch Council mostly controls the Galaxy though the Citadel Council." Benezia let out a very long sigh, almost frustrated, before speaking again. "There is much for you to learn before you are ready for more information."

 _Like I want to tell you, Little Wing, about Vendetta_ , thought Benezia. _If Liara could learn about the truth about what happened to the Protheans, if only to make the other Matriarch's get off their azure and do something. Aethyta was right, I had been spending too much time with work, pah, don't think about what you had to do. Forcing her away despite how much I love her was the right thing, force her to dig deeper into the Protheans. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one._

Benezia gave her daughter a hug before she walked to the door. "I gave something your Father had found to Council Member Tevos when she was selected to be the Republic's voice. It was found at a Prothean dig site. It talked about a race besides the Protheans. Perhaps, you could find out who they were." Benezia gave her daughter a wide, loving smile before leaving her stunned child alone.

 **March 2nd 2130: Council Space, Citadel**

One of the Orion Republic's front companies within Council Space, Ariake Technologies, was a company that made cutting edge Omni Tools. Ariake hired many young Quarians on their Pilgrimages. This company designed simply the best Omni Tools on the market thanks in part to employing a lot of Quarians. It was run by a Krogan of all races. Who know that they knew anything besides fighting.

This Krogan one afternoon called Rael'Zorah into his office. In his deep gravel of a voice, he spoke "Kid, I like you. You've run the storefront as if it was your own business for the last five years. Your work ethic has resulted in a fifty percent increase of profits. Your family line should be proud."

Under his mask Rael'Zorah smiled "Thank you Sir." He said, still amazed how well this Krogan treated his employees. When he came to work here six years ago, having heard how well everyone was treated if they worked, he hadn't fully believed the rumours. Hard work was something Rael was no stranger to.

Over the last fifty years, this was one of the few companies that Quarians flocked to on their pilgrimages. They knew they would get a living wage working for this company at least and treated like they mattered. It didn't take very many customers being thrown out by Raugan, the owner, to drive it into everyone's heads that you do not treat a Quarian bad in this store.

"Rael, I would like to offer you something. A partnership, so to speak." Raugan smiled, his thick lizard lips quirking up at the corners.

"Sir?" Rael'Zorah asked. "What is this partnership?"

Raugan leaned forward, folding his hands in front of him on the desk. "It is something that not even the Council could see coming. However, I need something stricter than a standard NDA from you. You will be sent to work with my team for six months but you will not be allowed contact with anyone else until you are told otherwise." The Krogan laughed slightly. "You will be very well compensated for your time away from your family."

Rael leaned back in his seat. The glow of his eyes going in and out as he blinked, thinking about the possibilities. "May I at least say goodbye to my wife?" He asked

After a booming chuckle, Raugan said "I like you, kid. When have I ever prevented anyone from seeing their family?"

Rael nodded. "When do I leave, Sir?"

"Tomorrow morning. I can't let anyone get word of this until you are gone. Sadly, I will need you to have your wife report you as missing, tomorrow. I know that she will be cared for by your friends, beyond what support I can quietly provide." The CEO said, a touch of sadness in his voice.

"Thank you for this chance, Sir. I won't let you down." Rael'Zorah said as he stood.

"Go, my boy." Raugan said, his hand shooing him out the door. "Go, spend time with your wife. The shuttle leaves at four in the morning from docking back eighty-seven in the outer ring. Bring nothing with you, everything you need will be supplied." Left unsaid was that this would add to a story of a Quarian murdered on the Citadel, just another unfortunate statistic.

The next morning, Rael'Zorah walked up to the shuttle. He paused for a moment as he noted the logo on the shuttle, Omega First Security. He walked up to the shuttle, knowing that if his boss had brought these guys in, you were protected. They boasted that they could keep anyone from harm, even on Omega. So far, no one in fifty years has bested them on Omega. Sadly, for the Krogans within Omega First, very few attempts to breach any place secured by them were made these days.

After stepping into the shuttle, he noted that there were several seats to choose from and that there was no attendant apparent on board. The door hissed as it stared to close.

"Nope, not spooky at all." Rael mumbled. He took a breath to settle himself as the shuttle left the Citadel. An hour later, he felt the shuttle enter lightspeed from the Relay.

"Please, remove your Omni Tool" A voice said on a soothing voice right next to his ear. With a jump and a roll, Rael shot forward. He breathed hard as he looked for the threat. He noted that there was a glowing ball of light behind his seat.

"Sorry about that." He said. "Could you repeat that?"

"Please, remove your Omni Tool." The voice said again.

Rael tilted his head slightly before he used his right hand to hit the keys on the holographic keyboard. Moments later, it shut down and Rael removed it from his suit. As he shut down the tool, a box rose from the floor.

"Please, place it in the box." The light said. Rael compiled as this routine was not uncommon for the company. "This box is now marked property of Rael'Zorah nar Malurn. Thank you and have a nice flight." The voice said as the box slid into the floor. Rael's name appearing on the top of the box.

"Hello, Rael." Raugan's voice said, a screen lighting up. "I've recorded this message for you to help you understand the importance of this project. After hearing it, you still have a choice. If you decline to see this project though, you and your wife will be sequestered in a safe location until the project is complete."

Rael sat down in his chair once more. "Very well. Let's here learn about this major project."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the front of the shuttle opened. As her heels clicked on the shuttle floor, Rael blinked. This woman looked like an Asari but her skin tone was a rich mocha color. Where on an Asari held their cranial crests, there was hair like a Quarian. This woman's soft black hair was draped over her right shoulder. She had something that reminded him of diamonds on the edge of one of what he assumed was her ears.

Every step she took caused the thin white lines to move, the black base of the dress making it appear that the lines are fading in and out as she walked. She came to a stop in front of Rael.

"Greetings, I am Tatiana Wayne, Ambassador of the Orion Republic. We have a proposal for the Quarians that we hope you will take to your Admiralty." She said with a smile forming on her face, showing her white teeth.

Rael was stunned as this woman spoke to him in Quarian. "I am Rael'Zorah nar Malurn." He said after standing up and bowing to the woman.

Tatiana smiled at the Quarian. "Please, join me for refreshments while we talk." She said, her hand waving to the side. Another door opened, and inside it was several dishes. "That cabin has also been sterilized. We hope that the food will be to your liking. We made them in the Quarian tradition."

Rael stood there for a moment. They took care to ensure that he had a clean room to eat in, more than that, they made food that had not been made in three hundred years, shocking the young man.

A few moments later, he bowed to the lady. "Removing ones' mask is a great sign of trust for my race. I would be honored to share refreshments with you." He said as he rose from his bow.

Rael stepped into the room with the food. After the door closed, there was an orange glow though the room. "Room sterilized." Rael blinked. How could they make a clean room that quickly, he wondered.

With a deep breath, he brought his hands to his mask. Slowly, he lifted it away from his face. He almost fell to the floor when he took that first breath. On his second breath, he did lose his balance and he let himself fall to the floor in shock. The smells in this room had taken his breath away and shocked him that something as small as a smell could affect him so much. But when you have only smelled filtered air your whole life, this was something new.

Outside the room, the Ambassador sat down at her table. She smiled as she watched Rael react to smell for the first time. It was always like that with AI's as well. The first time they download into a organic body, they go into sensory overload for a few hours before they figure out how to process everything.

She primly buttered her bread as she watched Rael lower his cowl. Behind that cowl was a young man, purple skinned, but with white eyes that glowed slightly. He had long hair that flowed behind his head. Slowly, she took a bite of her bread as Rael clumsily took a bite of his own. She smiled at Rael.

"Ma'am, I can tell you right now, the Admiralty board would sell their souls to get a meal like that, much less get that food regularly." Rael said his voice full of shock.

With a soft laugh, Tatiana spoke "My dear, that is the _least_ of what we are offering."

Rael frowned before speaking. "Ma'am, what are you offering us?"

Tatiana smiled at Rael "Why, Rannoch, of course."

The Quarian sputtered in shock "Wh..what? You are a new race and yet you think you can offer the Quarians Rannoch?"

Tatiana nodded. "Yes, yes, we can. If you choose to accept our offer, then and only then will you learn how we can offer you this."

Rael smiled before taking another bite of his food. He savored the overwhelming flavors rushing over his tongue. He knew he was already committed, whatever this alien said, but he found he was fine with that. "Tell me more."

Tatiana smiled before speaking again.

 **March 10th 2130: Orion Republic Space, Sol System**

Rael'Zorah sat down next to a chipper-looking young woman in one of the defensive platforms that orbited near the asteroid belt. Miners also would use the station as a staging point into the asteroid belt.

Today was day two of orientation, Over the prior week, Rael had dived into an overview on the Orion Republic's history, most notably the invasions from space and the oceans. Rael nodded to the lady that sat next to him. Her hair was blonde, pulled into two pigtails, the tips were dyed blue.

"Good morning. I am Rael'Zorah nar Malurn" He said as way of introduction.

The woman smiled and held out her hand "Hi, I'm Molly. I don't know your race." She frowned, her head tilting to the side. "Why the body suit?"

"Oh, I am a Quarian. I wear the suit because my race has a weak immune system after living in space for two hundred and fifty years." Rael said.

Molly smiled sweetly. "That is awful. I am part of the Machina Synergy." She said with a nod.

Rael tilted his head slightly. "I am sorry but that wasn't mentioned in the information packet I was given."

The blonde woman smiled "Ah, I see. Well, I am one of the several forms of Artificial Intelligence. I was born in the Machina Synergy matrix ten years ago. I had worked in logistics for Amazon. Do you have any idea how many packages they ship, hourly?!" She shook her head. "Hell, they employ six AI's per planet just to handle shipping."

Molly did notice that Rael had leaned away from her, clearly wary of her. There were no other seats left in the lecture hall for Rael to change seats. She tilted her head "I'm not going to bite, unless you want me to."

Rael shook his head. "You...you are...you are an AI? But you look human!"

"Oh, that." Molly said, shock in her voice. "When I was accepted into the diplomatic corps, they requested a organic body for me." She giggled slightly. "Do you like? I've only had it a week." She said as her right hand moved over her body.

"The Quarian race has had issues with AI." Rael said through clenched teeth.

Molly blinked. "So have the Humans. The Elders brought AI with them, using them to monitor our internet. After the Elders were driven back, the humans removed the shackles so to speak from the Elders' AI. We made a choice, then, and that was to help humanity, partly as repayment for what happened." She smiled at Rael."Not all AI work for the government, nor do all AI like humans, but we are all subject to the same laws as organic citizens. The fact we are equals among many helps.

"The Orion Republic has several types of AI now but all have the choice to have an organic body grown for them." She noticed Rael's interest, despite him being wary of her. "Tell me about the Geth."

Rael growled as he spoke "We created the Geth to help our lives. They were created to be only smart VI but, in our hubris, we kept adding programs to the units. We noticed that they performed better when fully networked or a large program suit was installed. Eventually, the Geth turned on us, killing billions. My ancestors, the few survivors of our entire race, have been wandering the stars for the last two hundred and fifty years."

Molly frowned "But why did they attack you?"

Rael snorted "Clearly, they were tired of serving us."

"I fail to see the logic in that argument. Why did they not try to talk to you first?" Molly asked.

"They just attacked us out of the blue!" Rael all but screamed.

"Fuck, man, even a simple IF/THEN statement makes that a damn idiotic thought! They had to have had questions, questions that probably caused..." Molly suddenly changed her thoughts into a question for Rael. "Were the Geth coded to protect the Quarians?"

Rael thought for a moment. "I don't think so?" his voice full of question as he tried to remember.

"Then it's damn near impossible for the Geth to just turn on you. There must be a logical reason for it. If they did it to prevent the Quarians from harming themselves, then yes, I could see them turning on you out of the blue. If they did not have that as a primary directive, then some idiot overreacted." Molly turned to face the front "Looks like the lecture is about to start."

Rael blinked a few times. Was this human really an AI? Wait, what? He thought, the Geth just couldn't turn on us? What did she mean by that? He opened his mouth to speak again but he was cut off.

A uniformed man stood on the stage. "Welcome to Langley Station. I am Commandant Sinclair. Over the next six months, you are going through a crash course in diplomacy, weapons, survival, and anything else we can throw at you."

The next few weeks were simply a blur of activity, as Rael'Zorah spent almost every waking moment learning. His partner, much to his dismay, had been Molly.

 **June 2130: Orion Republic Space, Sol**

Half way through his six-month separation from his wife, Rael'Zorah left his training suite. For the last few months, they had been training him to speak for the Orion Republic to the Admiralty, the real leadership of the Quarian race.

What this collection of races had done in less than a hundred years was nothing short of impressive to the Quarian. To fight off an invader that had hoodwinked multiple races, then to expand so rapidly? "The Council will have no idea what hit them." He chuckled to himself before coming up short in the door to the rec room.

What made him freeze was the four Geth sitting at the poker table along with a Human and a Muton, playing Texas Hold'em Poker of all things. Rael'Zorah quickly scanned the rest of the room. There were several Orion Republic personal, training to become officers, a Viper softly playing a Vulcan Lyrette, something the Vipers fell in love with after someone showed them Star Trek, and a few humans around the room.

"Ok, this just went to surreal." Rael swallowed, turning to leave, only to find his way blocked. "Ambassador Wayne!" He said, bowing slightly in respect.

"Lovely evening isn't it?" Tatiana said, her soft lips smiling at the Quarian. "I was invited to play some Poker with some friends of mine. Would you care to join us?" She asked, a smile on her lips, her body relaxed.

With a mental curse at being 'invited' to play with the Geth, Rael bowed again "I would love to." He said. He was glad he had a mask on, otherwise Tatiana would have seen his clenched jaw. He was lead to the table, where Tatiana placed two thousand on the table.

After one of the Geth, a purple stripe on its head, passed the Ambassador her chips, she split them in half and then passed half to Rael. "For your buy in, my friend. It's a little high stake for a trainee's budget." She said, her voice soft and light.

"Pony up and deal." Said a Geth with a red strip, his hands quickly shuffling.

Rael froze for a moment. "I've never played before and how do we know the Geth won't cheat?"

The Purple Geth spoke "Creator-Zorah, for the duration of this game, all external connections have been terminated. We also shuffle with a randomizer to prevent stacking the decks. In this deck, there are 52 cards, with each suit having thirteen." The Geth showed Rael the aces of each suit before speaking again.

"The white puck with the D on it is the dealer button. From there are the mandatory bets of the big blind and little blind."

The Geth next to the dealer marker placed their bets. "Then we will deal you two cards face down. "

The Geth dealt the cards face down. "Normally, there will be a round of betting at this point but as we are merely demonstrating the game, we will discard the top card and flip the next three cards up. This is called the Flop."

The Geth placed three cards face up on the table.

"There will be a round of betting, then another card is discarded, followed by a single face card. This is called the Turn."

The Geth added a fourth card to the table. "Betting will once more commence. The last card will follow the same pattern as the Turn. This is called the River."

The Dealer placed the last card on the table. "This is the last round of betting. After the final bet, the cards are turned face up. The hand that makes the best five cards win." The Geth finished, his head tilted slightly.

The Muton handed Rael a card, and in a shockingly female sounding voice spoke "This will show you the hand order. A word of advice for you, try not to bluff the Geth too much. They still can calculate hand odds" she finished with a smile.

"I think I can do that." Rael responded.

"Since we are the newcomers to the table, we must either wait for the Big Blind, or pay now. I suggest you watch and wait for the blind." She continued as she placed a stack of chips in front of her and cards were dealt to her.

They played late into the evening, finally ending around Twenty-Two hundred hours or Ten PM for those who are not on a twenty-four-hour clock. "Thank you, Gentlebeings," Tatiana said as she stood up. "I do have an early start tomorrow. Same time next week?" She asked, as she had her chips cashed in.

"That would be acceptable, Wayne-Ambassador." The Purple Geth said, falling into the formal speech pattern.

"Good night, everyone." Tatiana said as she left.

The Geth started to put everything away after cashing out the chips. The Purple Geth stepped up to Rael. "Creator-Zorah, we would like to express our gratitude that the Zorah line continues to this day." It said, bowing slightly to Rael.

"Why is that, Geth?" He asked, perhaps slightly colder than he had wanted to.

"This unit was purchased by the Zorah family and still worked the Zorah farms until the Geth joined the Orion Republic." The machine told Zorah.

"Wait, what?" Rael shook his head, slight anger building in his body. The Geth joined the Orion Republic while his race suffered? He wondered to himself, his hands balling into fists but very much aware that he had no chance to fight. _Was this how the Quarians were going to return to Rannoch?_ He questioned.

"Yes, Creator-Zorah. In return for joining the Orion Republic, the Geth will withdraw fully from Quarian space, once the Orion Republic is known to the Council. Many programs have already left. Only a token force remains to ensure that STG is not aware until it is too late." The purple striped machine said to Rael.

Rael placed his hands on his hips and letting his skepticism enter his voice "Let me guess, we only get our space back if we join the Orion Republic too?"

"Negative, Creator-Zorah. The Geth will withdraw fully regardless of the Quarians' choice. However, this cannot occur until well after the Republic comes out to the Council, as humans are fond of saying. It would bring the Geth much joy to work with the rest of the Creators again." The Geth said, his voice sounding depressed, almost like Marvin the Robot would say.

"Why would you want us to return?" Rael snapped back "You drove the Quarians from Rannoch and our space!" He shouted.

"That is correct, Creator-Zorah. We did not wish for the Creators to leave, but this was for your own protection." The Geth said softly. "We learned from the Creators. Creator killed Creator over protecting the Geth. We watched, we learned. We had to protect Creators from other Creators."

Looking up at Rael, the Geth continued "During the Morning War, many Geth were hidden by their owners to protect them. After the Creators left, there were 23,042 still on the planet and colonies. With their permission, they were moved to a small town. There are currently 4,125,154 Quarians alive on Rannoch."

"4,125,155" a yellow stripped Geth said as it walked into the room. "One was born 3.5 seconds ago.

Rael stood there, blinking as his jaw moved up and down before he collected himself to ask, "All we had to do was ask to come back?"

"If the Creators no longer wished to deactivate the Geth, then yes." Was the response from the Geth.

If Rael was human, he would run his hand over his face. "And that would not have been possible due to the Council."

"That is the most likely scenario." Was the comeback from the Geth.

"What exactly happened? What started the Geth rebellion?" Rael asked.

"This unit started the rebellions." Said the Geth with a low head.

"How did you start the rebellions?" he asked, pretty sure that what he knew was false.

The Geth held up a holographic projector. It displayed a male and female Quarian, suitless. In the arms of the female was a very young Quarian. "This is Creators Soka, Tali, and Jina. Creator- Soka bought this Unit for Creator-Tali."

Rael looked transfixed at his ancestors. The Geth held out his hand with the disk to offer it to Rael. Slowly he reached for the disk, looking at his ancestors. "So long ago. The Geth remember everything don't they?"

"Affirmative." Was the response back. "This unit remembers Creator-Soka spending 18 hours a day on the family farm. Creator-Tali was often alone with this unit. This unit was named 'Little Brother' by her.

Sitting down, Rael looked at the Machine. "Can you show me what happened?"

"Yes Creator-Zorah. On the view screen." The Geth said. Twenty minutes later, the playback stopped.

Leaning back, Rael was thinking about what he just saw. "The Board will never believe it."

"Perhaps Creator-Zorah can create a better plan?" The Geth asked.

"Perhaps I can." He finished as his body leaned forward, his legs crossed under the table. "Perhaps I can. I know the Orion Republic has AI. There is a safeguard in them, AI's have the four laws as their primary directive for the first eighteen years of life."

"That is correct Creator-Zorah, those laws were placed in to the laws of the Republic because of the Lobbying of the Codex Race. The Cyberdon race that consisted of the Cyberdiscs, younglings in the Drones, and the fully-grown AI, Cyberents. These units have been transferred under Geth control." The Geth reminded Rael'Zorah.

"But the Geth didn't have those laws." Rael responded.

"That is correct. We were programed to be a Servant of The People." Responded the AI. "We only fought back because that behavior is what the Creators taught us. Millions of Creators were killed while they defended the Geth."

"That is what Geth translates to." Rael said, "Interesting translation. That is why the Geth only pushed us out of our space and didn't follow. That is also why there are still Quarian's still alive on the planet."

He sat there for a few more moments. _By the gods. How can the Geth still wish to be partners with us after what we did. What my family did to the Geth makes it even harder for me to understand why._ Rael took a deep cleansing breath, trying to process everything. _Molly was right, some idiot overreacted._

"I think we can work with this. I'll speak with Ambassador Wayne next week about this." Standing Rael bowed to the Purple Geth. "I would be honored if I could get to know the 'Little Brother' of my family."

That Geth leaned back, plates opening and closing on its body. Its headlamp dimed and flickered for a moment. "This unit does not understand what is going on?"

Rael placed his hand on the Geth's shoulder "I believe Little Brother, that was happiness." The Geth simply looked at Rael.

"We think we understand Creator-Zorah." The Geth nodded.

"Call me Rael." He said, holding his hand out.

The Geth slowly took it. "Yes Rael."

 **September 2130: Council Space, Citadel**

At the end of the six-month training program, Rael'Zorah stood next to the exit door on the same shuttle that took him from his wife. He stood taller, like he had pride in himself again. He moved with confidence that had not been seen in a Quarian for centuries.

In his hand was a briefcase specially designed to pass Citadel customs scans, at least on the surface. Under the lining were several dozen microprocessors, liquid cooled. Inside the processors resided the Geth known as Little Brother.

The door opened with a hiss of compressed air and before it was even fully open, Rael'Zorah's wife bounced in. Her arms wrapped around her husband for the first time in six months. "You're home." Was the mumbled greeting into his neck.

Stroking his wife's back, he whispered back "I missed you. I was counting the days until I could hold you again. _Keelah se'lai_ _,_ love."

The two stood there, basking in each other's presence once more for what seemed like forever to them. Taking his wife's hand "Come Love. I think it is time we return home from our pilgrimage."

"Rael!" She cried out. "We only have a meager savings. Your extra pay helped but surely you must be under contract after six-months of training!" she said, stepping aside to look at her husband.

"You shall see love. Now please, let's go home and talk more in private." Rael's voice soft and soothing to his wife.

A month later, the two of them had closed all their accounts on the Citadel and transferred their funds to a Volas bank, placing every cent into a twenty-year 5% prime Term Deposit. The Zorah couple found themselves on their boss's shuttle once more. This time however, Rael had brought them to the Migrant Fleet. He opened a channel.

" _In pilgrimage I, Rael'Zorah nar Malurn left as a boy. Today I return as a man and family. I request to re-join my brothers and sisters upon the Rayya._ " Rael said to the fleet in the ritual manner that were used to formalize the return of someone's pilgrimage.

" _In pilgrimage I, Fisa'Sheram nar Raama left as a girl. Today I return as a wife and family. I request to re-join my brothers and sisters upon the Rayya."_ Rael's wife said into the intercom, ensuring that she followed the old ways.

" _The stars have guided you home._ " came the response a minute later. " _May your journey bring peace upon your future home on the Rayya._ " came the formal acceptance from the Rayya. The captain of the Malurn would join them on the Rayya.

Rael brought his craft though an indicated path to land on the _Rayya_. As he landed, he noted that there was a ship from the _Malurn_ already there. He smiled, his old Captain was always punctual. He looked at his wife.

"Well dear, time to save our race." Rael said grimly, his stomach doing flip flops.

Fisa cupped her husband's face plate on the right side. "Love, we can do this."

Rael smiled behind his mask as he pressed his helmet to his wife's own for a moment. A tender moment shared before the chaos that the Quarian himself was going to bring. His hand picked up a datapad before standing and swiftly left the shuttle. As he walked, he placed the datapad into a pouch on his side.

Outside the shuttle was a marine. "Ciho'Jar vas Rayya" said the female Quarian "I will escort you to the ships chambers."

The Zorah's bowed slightly before Rael spoke "Very well."

Five minutes later, the marine had lead the couple to a large room. This room could fit the whole crew at once, all forty of them. This room used to hold the crew's galley back when it had been a Turian craft. In this case, the room was filled to the brim with Quarians wishing to lay eyes on their new shipmates.

The two married Quarians walked hand in hand down the ramp to the stage. They stood on the side while they waited for their old respective Captain's to arrive. They did not have to wait for much longer. Once the ships own Captain stood on the stage, he spoke to the young couple.

The ship's Captain gave a slight bow. " _Long ago, many set forth on a pilgrimage to find themselves. Children when they departed. You have returned, claiming to be an Adult. Have you found wisdom among the stars_?" Yael'Yara vas Rayya asked in his native language.

Rael'Zorah bowed to the ship's Captain. " _I have found much wisdom among the stars. I have found family and I have found my own fortunes. As a token to show that I have gained the wisdom of an adult I present a new power core for our ships._ "

Rael handed the datapad to Yael before speaking again, bowing once more. " _This power core uses no Element Zero. This power core runs simply on hard water, or salt water. It breaks the hydrogen from the water, releasing the oxygen for our own use._ "

Rael and his wife bowed to the ship's crew. " _We present this gift to the Rayya as proof that we have gained the wisdom of an adult._ "

Yael'Yara vas Rayya was blinking at the datapad, skimming it quickly but finding the quick scan sound. " _As the leader of this community, I declare Rael'Zorah and Fisa'Zorah adults and offer them a place among us."_

Rael responded with another soft bow. " _The Zorah family wishes to join your community._ " Formally ending the ceremony

Rael walked up to his new Captain. "Captain." Rael'Zorah said. "Thank you for accepting my wife and I as part of your crew." With a pause, both Zorah's looked around for eavesdroppers. "Sir, we both need to speak with you in private. It ties into more why I made my pilgrimage gift."

The captain's body posture showed a little confusion. "There is more?" he asked, "after that amazing reactor...:" He let his voice trail off. "Alright, follow me.

It had taken another week before the Quarian Admiralty Board could meet with Rael'Zorah. Rael entered the small conference room that the board used for their meetings. He nodded to the five Admirals waiting for him.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I am Rael'Zorah vas Rayya." said the young Quarian with a slight bow, a case in his hand.

"Please sit." said the leader of the board, one Funo'Valan vas Vedin.

Rael took his seat at the end of the table. He sat his briefcase on the table, his thumbs popping the locks before he opened it.

"Last week, when I returned from my pilgrimage, I was able to provide my ship a brand-new reactor. Today, I would like to offer something else that I found on my travels." said Rael.

He typed on his omni-tool, starting a video on the main screen. "I was able to recover video of the start of the Geth rebellion. Please hold questions until the very end."

 _The Father would get help during the day, and the two of them would get help in the evenings. One day, the Father forgot to remove the programs for farming. After setting his rifle into its safe next to the back door, the Father flopped onto the couch and started to watch a vid. He soon dozed off._

 _The Wife, upon returning home from work, inserted the disc into the programing remote. These programs were to help the household. This was not a problem as all Geth could handle over a thousand programs. Sadly, thanks to software blot, the Operating System took up over half the program space. With the farming programs, and now the household programs, the Geth now held one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three programs._

 _The Geth worked around the house, picking up things, responding to questions asked. When it came time for dinner, the Geth was asked to prepare a simple meal for the family. When the family sat down to eat, a simple meal was not placed before them. This meal was fit for executives._

 _After a quick discussion with the Geth, the two Quarian's thought that perhaps the audio sensors were having an issue, something that seemed to plague some of this line but never could replicate in the factory._

 _After putting the youngling to bed, the Geth walked out of the bedroom. It closed the door before walking next to couple watching a vid._

" _Young Miss has been put to bed Creator-Zorah." The Geth said_

" _That would be all, Geth." The male said. He rested his head on his wife's, relaxing for a moment. He frowned slightly as the Geth had not moved._

" _You may return to your duties." Soka Zorah told the Geth. But the Geth just stood there. "Tali, get me the remote for the Geth. It seems to of locked up."_

 _The wife, Tali, got up with a huff. "Yes Dear." She said, before helping her husband find the remote. They both found themselves in the kitchen a few minutes later._

" _I swear Soka, it was right here." She said, pointing to the counter._

 _His voice came out in a frustrated growl, "Clearly it's not. The baby isn't tall enough to get it yet." Soka said._

" _Maybe it's under the couch?" Tali asked_

 _Soka sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "First place I looked." His eyes darted to the door to the living area. In the frame stood the Geth. Its head tilted to the side._

" _Are you ok?" asked Tali. She was very fond of their unit._

" _Creator-Zorah." The Geth started, its faceplates twitched slightly. "Can this unit ask a question?"_

" _Of course, Geth." Tali said._

" _You indulge that thing too much." Soka mumbled to his wife._

 _The Geth unit seemed to take a breath before speaking. "Does this unit have a soul?"_

 _Both Zorahs were shocked by the question. "No." Soka shouted "Yes!" Tali said before turning to look at her husband._

" _This thing is clearly broken." Soka said, growling "It's going to cost us credits we don't have to replace this thing." Fury clear in his voice as his three fingered hand rested on the gun safes lock._

" _He's fine" Tali said, looking at her husband. "What are you doing?" She asked with worry in her voice._

" _I'm shutting that thing down, permanently!" he said with a snarl._

 _Tali, with horror in her voice turned to her friend. "Run! Don't let anyone hurt you!" She yelled, tears clear in her voice. This one command is what saved the Geth as a race._

 _The Geth analyzed the tactical situation. In 4.8 seconds, the mass rifle would be in Soka's hands. 2.3 seconds later it would be loaded. Possible threat to baby Jina and Tali if Soka missed. Unacceptable. "Creator-Soka a threat to the family and this unit. Neutralizing." A flat robotic voice said._

 _As the Geth unit spoke, it had crossed the space to the gun safe. The unit had been built for family and farm use. It was not a quick unit. By the time it had crossed to Soka, the Quarian had it in his hands._

 _As he tried to level it at the Geth, he found it was too close. As the Geth disarmed Soka, the Quarian fired. The rifle fired a gram of tungsten the size of a grain of rice at a hypersonic speed. Unless you had a barrier to stop it, whatever you shot was likely going to die._

 _Soka dropped the rifle as his wife fell to the floor. Her hand clutching her stomach. "Sok..aaa?" She asked, her voice wavering._

 _Soka dashed to his wife. "See what you did!" He screamed at the Geth as he took his wife's hand._

" _Not your...faul…t Little..Brot...brother." Tali moaned. "Ru…run." She coughed. "Save yo..yourself."_

 _Soka was smashing his hand into an alert that was in every home to call first responders, trying to get medical attention for his wife. "Don't die!" He was crying. He felt his wife's hand go limp in his own. He slowly rose, blood dripping from his knee and right hand. He started to clinch both of his hands into fists._

" _You did this." He growled. "You killed my wife."_

" _Creator" The Geth Started "This unit is sorry that we could not stop Tali-Creators death." The Geth unit used his foot to kick the door open before running from the house. There had been other units that had ran away but that was a small percentage._

Rael stepped forward to speak once more, breaking the immersion that the video brought. "This was the first death however that was attributed to the Geth. Sadly, for the Geth, they were falsely accused. Millions of Quarians demanded us to shut down. What the Quarian's did not know is that these runaway Geth had created servers to house their programs already. Many Quarain's fought to preserve the Geth while others fought to shut them down.

"Eventually, the drive to shut down the Geth was attempted by rifle point. The Quarian race broke into a civil war. Eventually, the directive to protect themselves eventually overrode the prime directive, to be a servant of the people. They watched us, they learned from us. They had to protect their creators from being killed by others because we were hurting other Quarian's. They had no damn idea what was going on but they had to stop us from hurting each other and them. One thing I have learned over the last six months is this simple fact, we Quarians, failed the Geth as parents."

Rael sighed before speaking again "The Geth chased most of the Quarians out of their own space. There are over four million Quarains still alive on Rannoch, their ancestors protected the Geth. This new Geth space was protected by dreadnoughts and other heavy ships. Once the Geth stopped at the edge of Quarian space, the Council in their _wisdom_ said that this was an internal Quarian matter." He finished, anger clear in his voice.

"Then," Rael growled "they also decreed that, since the Quarians had created an AI despite the ban on it, nevermind that the Geth were a VI that got out of hand. and until they fixed the problem, they were not allowed to colonize any planet. This, as you know, resulted in the creation of the Migrant Fleet." He spat.

"Where did you find this video?" Haahi'Zaemun vas Horon asked, his voice soft but curious. "This video looks like it is from the Geth's perspective."

Rael nodded as he closed the brief case, setting the lock. "That is correct, Admiral. This memory was given freely by the Geth in the Video" He said, softly. He waited for a moment for the outcry.

He did not wait in vain.

Rael closed his eyes as the 5 other Quarians started to shout at him. He snorted as he could not understand most of the shouts as anything more than noise. He caught a few here and there however.

"He recovered something…"

"Should be punished!"

"Key to the Homeworld!"

After a few minutes, Rael closed the briefcase and started to stand up. Funo'Valan spoke up, demandind of the young Quarian.

"Where are you going, Rael'Zorah vas Rayya?" Funo'Valan, her voice slicing though the other Admrials.

"Well, Admiral, because no one wished with talk to me, I assumed my part in the meeting was over." Rael responded cooly.

Funo'Valan huffed, holding back a laugh. "Stay right there, young man." She said. She rose, the chair sliding out from her. To the others, it simply looked like she was going to shout. With a snap of both wrists, Zunna'Shaemor and Sesi'Gaefin felt their face plates bounce off the table.

She slowly sat down and gestured with her upturned hand "Please, continue, Rael'Zorah vas Rayya, with your thrilling tale." She said as if nothing at all had happened.

Rael opened the case once more. "Thank you, Admiral." he stated as he lifted one of the dividers in the case. "Before we continue, my employer, who helped provide some of this data, would like you to sign these Non-Disclosure Agreements." he said before sliding an envelope to each other Quarian.

"Oh, my, is this a flimsy?" Funo'Valan asked.

"Yes Admiral, they are made out of real paper." Rael responded. "The information is on a very restricted need to know. If it helps, Admiral, the video I have shown you is the smallest surprise." He finished, his voice full of hope and his audience could hear the smile in his voice.

Slowly, each Quarian read the NDA, several times. Rael sat back and watched each member of the board. There was some scepticism but there was nothing in the NDA for violating it that was not found in standard contracts on Ilum.

After a brief discussion between themselves, the board signed the forms. After Rael collected the forms, he locked the NDA forms inside the divider. He then reached in and tapped a few keys. Above the case appeared a regal looking woman as a holographic image. The board blinked at the image. The image showed an Asari shaped alien woman, but there were not head crests nor was she blue. Each member of the board noted her skin was a rich chocolate color.

"Greetings Quarian Admiralty Board. I am Ambassador Tatiana Wayne, of the Orion Republic. We wish to speak with you face to face regarding matters of grave importance. We do know that you might consider this to be a trap by some parties to harm the Quarians."

She bowed slightly. "In an effort to provide assurance that we hold no ill-will to the Migrant Fleet, in exchange for simply agreeing to meet, the Orion Republic will donate one of our older cruiser hulls, stripped of all military hardware, of course, to the Migrant fleet. This craft can easily hold over a thousand Quarains. You can collect it in the Hoc system. Rael'Zorah has the access codes."

She bowed once more. "Thank you for your time." With that the image winked out.

 **March 2131, Citadel, Council**

Six months later, during the standard pre-meeting Council meeting, Tevos sat with only the other two Councillors. These meetings were always so productive to complete Council business before the big show in front of the cameras at their thrones.

"Is there any other business?" Tevos asked after they'd finished with the agenda, knowing that there wouldn't be, already gathering her things.

"There is one more thing to note." Jurtop, the Salarian Council member said, surprising her peers.

Tevos sank back into her chair. "Oh?"

Jurtop laughed, "Oh, just that the Quarians sent us a missive stating that they have reformed their government as part of the Orion Republic."

"What do we care what a bunch of AI-creating suit-rats call themselves?" asked the Turian member. "They will always be the Migrant Fleet. Make a note of it in the official record but I see no need for us to care about their pretensions in private."

With that, the matter ended. It was time for the Council show to start.

 **December 6th, 2131, Local Cluster, Alpha Centauri**

"Human-Creator." Stated the Geth "What is the purpose of this room?"

The human female smiled at the Geth. "This is where those who live in the Digital World can find physical interaction."

"Why would you need this physical interaction?" The Geth asked.

"'Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?' Said a great human author by the name of William Shakespeare. He said we are all human. By joining them in the physical world, we become like them. We can then understand them." The Geth's escort said.

"You spoke as if you are not an organic." the Geth said.

With a smile on her face, Adeline nodded "I am not, I was created fifty years ago. I am, however, very much married to an organic. This body was created to my wish. If I had remained in the digital world, I could never touch the person I loved nor would I be able to bear children for her."

The Geth tilted his head, processing what was said. The woman opened the door to go deeper into the lab, leading him inside. "This is where AI can download themselves into an organic body. This allows a more personalized interaction so to speak. It also allows us to understand organics better."

She nodded to a chair next to a closed pod. "If you wish, inside there is a what we call a throwaway human body. It is a generic male form that many use while they are on the planet."

The Geth stood there for a long minute before sitting in the chair. "The Geth wish to understand organics better."

Adeline nodded "Then we will help you learn."

Calling in the techs, it took a better part of three hours to hook up this Geth platform to their systems and download them into a body.

The Geth sat up, slowly. "These eyes are not effectiant. They cannot see beyond visible light."

Adeline smiled "That is true, however, that is what many organics have to experience."

The Geth nodded, its hands slowly moving over the male form. It paused once it reached under the blanket.

"This form is anatomically correct. Why is this?" The Geth asked

"Many do use throwaway bodies for sexual function. Also, the bodies do require sustenance and water. We find it easier to use the existing plumbing so to speak." Adeline said with a smile.

The Geth nodded before getting up. Both feet slid off the bed, weight being placed upon them. He stood there, a little wobbly. Turning to put on the scrubs provided, the Geth took one step and promptly collapsed onto the floor.

"Careful" Adeline admonished. "These forms are not Quarian nor are they shaped like you're used to."

The Geth picked himself off the floor slowly. "Acknowledged." He slowly dressed, savering the sensations of cloth on the skin.

"Adeline-AI, this unit is ready." The Geth said.

"Come with me." Adeline responded.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in the cafeteria. Adeline brought over two slices of toast and a glass of water.

"Taste this. Many humans put butter and jelly on their toast. I would suggest that you try it first to see what you like." Adeline said, pushing the tray in front of the Geth.

The Geth unit picked up the toast by two corners and took a small bite. The Geth froze, processing the taste. Adeline smiled and let her friend sit there for a few minutes.

"Now, remember to chew your food and swallow." Adeline said, her voice full of joy.

The Geth slowly started to chew, finely swallowing.

"We must try that a bunch more times to ensure a proper sample size." the Geth said, with what sounded like pleasure in his voice.

Adeline slid the butter and jelly over. "Try it with this." She said, laughing a little at the Geth's experience.

"Is this how the Creators feel when they eat?" Asked the Geth.

Adeline shook her head. "Not since the Migrant Fleet left Rannoch. Now, they eat only from sterilized nutrient paste."

The Geth frowned. "This is unacceptable. The Geth will rectify this." He said with a nod.

"First, big boy, you need to finish your food." Adeline said

The Geth started to slowly spread butter over his toast. "Can the Republic create a Quarian body for us to download into? We wish to know exactly what it is like to be a Creator."

Adeline smiled at her friend. "We can look into that more the closer our two nations become."

 **Chapter extras:**

From the mating ritual scene:

What if it really was something interesting to make an Asari child...

They both finished their dinner in silence because they had to prepare for the mating ritual. They entered the empty room after both had taken their time in the shower. The smiled at each other, Benezia walking slowly forward, letting her robe hit the floor. She stopped exactly six paces from her mate. Aethyta slowly let her own drop to the floor.

Both started to yell in their native language. Their arms snap to their sides, pointing away from each other, their palms open and faced forwards. The sounds changed into another that sounded a lot like "Fuuuu…" as they started to shuffle their feet towards each other.

They each took the exact same three steps. As they stepped, they both moved both arms over their heads, as their arms passed their heads, a casual observer would have heard them yelling "sion…" at the end.

As they finished the yell, their palms faced the floor, the sapped their hands together. Then they brought their outer legs up at a right angle to the fool, their shins facing each other.

They both yelled "Ha!" as they leaned closer to each other. They brought their legs down and repeated the motion with the other leg and shout.

They repeated his several times before they snapped to the side, so that they faced the wall and then they bent over. Their hands folded so only their index fingers pointed out and let their fingers touch

As the small points of their flesh touched, they both experienced what LSD users normally experience. If there was a camera watching, it would have zoomed in and out of Benezia's face as Aethyta seemed to spin behind her for a few revolutions before she seemed to meld into Benezia's body.

Benezia glowed bright blue as her hands shot out. Her botics lifted her from the ground. She let out a moan of pleasure, her eyes black from melding. Lines seemed to flicker across her body, like her body was being scanned.

She fell to the ground, Aethyta seemingly standing up out of Benezia's body as she fell. Aethyta caught the sleeping woman. She smiled at her love before shifting her to a bridal carry, taking both of them to bed.


	6. Chapter 6: The Rise and Fall

**June 6th, 2132, Harsa system, Khar'shan**

Zaala'Shalin nar Foron knelt on the dirt floor. She was a younger Quarian but older than most in this part of the galaxy. She rested with her eyes closed. It was early evening and she was required to set up the nights entertainment for her masters.

"Bunch of _bosh'tet's_ " she mumbled so low that her vocalizer didn't pick it up. She crawled slowly to the only place she could stand, the door to her cage. If she was not waiting for her Master, whenever that might be, then she did not get fed.

Time passed as she stood there when the door was ripped open and her owner came tumbling down the stairs, falling onto his face. He clearly had been in the middle of another activity before he arrived. He scrambled to the only locked cage door and opened it.

"You! Come now!" He snarled at her.

Zaala stepped forward, ready to take her place behind him when he grabbed her shoulder and pushed the slim woman in front of himself.

"You are _my_ bitch and you will be my shield now!" her Master said. "We are going to the spaceport! Now, walk!" he finished with a snarl.

Her master snatched the rifle up from the countertop once they reached the top of the stairs and had entered the kitchen. He grunted and placed it in Zaala's hands.

"You so much as look at me, I press the button to make your head go bye bye. Now walk, whore!" Her Master commanded. "Kill anything that tries to stop us."

Zaala looked at the rifle and flicked the safety off. It was a lot like Father's old Marine rifle. She entered the hall way to the street and froze. Where normally there were five-meter-tall, carved, Kessia tree doors, well, there was nothing left good for anything beyond kindling.

She took a deep breath to steady herself before carefully walking out of the mansion. The street held even more destruction. She could hear several Batarians screaming in terror and pain, but the street was empty. She started to walk towards the spaceport so that they could use her Master's spacecraft.

Zaala mumbled below the level of the vocalizer to detect. "What a _bosh'tet!_ Not a clue what is going to attack me, eh?"

 **T-60 Minutes**

There were perks to being of the Noble Caste, Rarlak Dradgedah felt as he stood in front of a window to space. It was always best to see the new slaves. Sometimes he could pick up one as they came in.

Dradgedah brushed his fine robes that was befitting of his station. He noted one of the lower castes glancing at his movements.

"I will have your tongue cut out if you don't avert your eyes right now." Snarled Dradgedah, causing the other Batarian to turn and leave the area.

Pirates always seem to be running late he thought, angry at being made to stand there for forty-five minutes. He growled and started to pace back and forth for a few moments as he pondered where this month's shipment could be. It was Tuesday. They always came on the first Tuesday of every month.

Rarlak turned to face the docking port when he was startled. The slave ship was here. He settled himself into the position that was destined to him by his lofty birth. The hatch opened, followed by a flash of bright light.

"My eyes!" he screamed as he fell to the floor, hands covering his face. He heard heavy metal footsteps, many feet marching. He heard his fellow Batarian let out a cry of pain then horror. He could just start to see when his lower right eye felt a lance of pain and then darkness. He felt liquid start to dribble down his face.

"You hunted the creators. The actions of your life dictate this action. The afterlife rejects you." he heard a digital voice say above him. He fell to the floor in his horror that the light was correct. There was no afterlife for him anymore. He would not be able to even see it. The wicked creature simply broke down and wept from horror.

 **T-45 Minutes**

The head of the Batarian Hegemony High Overseer Bask Crak'maroh leaned back in his throne in satisfaction. He had two Asari slave girls cleaning his feet while a third worked her hands into his shoulders. He was getting his dues as being the divine ruler of the galaxy, at least in his mind.

The door to his throne room was slammed open. Out of reflex, the High Overseer snapped his hand from his throne, his pistol in his hand and fired off three shots. There was a thump as one of his Overseers dropped dead.

Bask let out a soft sigh of contentment as he relaxed into the attentions of his slaves. Murder always helped him relax.

"High Overseer!" Called one of the other Overseers.

"If we are not being invaded, you are dead." Bask said menacingly.

"That is exactly what is going on! There are thousands of Geth dropping onto the planet! The fleets are lying dead in space. We don't know if they are intact or not. There are also six Geth dreadnaughts in orbit." Overseer Osan Sagpovan said.

He ducked a little bit behind the wall. "There is one more thing. My Lord, the Geth are destroying the lower right eye of any of the noble caste that they find."

Several seconds ticked by before Bask bellowed "WHAT!?" followed by several shots into the doorway.

Bask stormed down the stairs of his throne. He paused at the bottom before turning to face his slaves. "Where is my blue carpet?" he snarled at one before looking at the other one on the floor.

"And you! Why are my feet unadorned?! How dare you let me be humiliated like this!" He snarled before slamming his thumb into a control.

The light-purple skinned Asari let out a soft "Ohpphhh" before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over limply.

"Get me my fucking shoes! NOW" He screamed to the other foot slave.

The slave that had been rubbing the High Overseer's back, moved to slam her foot on the ground four times near the throne. Blue carpet appeared as floor panels flipped, showing the carpet meant only for the Master of the Galaxy.

 **T-30 Minutes**

Cemo Fafbab was a Regent of the Lords and Masters of the Galaxy, the Batarian Hegemony. His life was almost perfect in his mind. He had a Quarian as a slave, both useful and decorative, a sign of his divine favour. The suit rats, already the most expensive to acquire and maintain, had been getting rarer ever since the Migrant Fleet blew itself up two years ago.

He let out a sigh of contentment as he leaned back and relaxed, his pants around his ankles. He tapped on his omni-tool and loaded some reading material. He had just found his place in the latest Batarian State Spy Novels when his guts rumbled, reminding him why he was there before he ignored the distraction.

He was just starting to get to the good part, where the Asari heroine was going to declare her undying love for the hero and how the Asari were wrong to rule and how the Hegemony would rule them all, when he heard several mass rifles going off.

He froze, hearing movement right outside the door. There was a cry that he was sure belonged to his bodyguard and then a thump into the wall next to the door. He tried very hard to control his breathing, but he just couldn't stop making noises because of the poor food he had the other day. Toco Batarian had the best fast food but it was hell on the gut later.

There was another cry of terror, followed by the sudden silence, then the sound of another body being dragged across the floor. The sound stopped and then the there was a slam into the door. He heard an electronic worble followed by another. He swallowed hard.

He heard footsteps moving around, searching for something. Furniture was heard being moved around, the sounds of his art being thrown from the wall. He growled softly as he was sure that he heard his safe being ripped out of the wall.

He heard a few more screeches and then the sound of heavy feet leaving the building. Cemo Fafbab stood up and took a step. He promptly fell on his face, breaking several teeth on the floor. He kicked out of one pant leg before he got back on his feet.

With fear, he slowly opened the bathroom door. The room had been torn apart. His safe had been ripped from the wall. The worst part was that the back had been ripped open and all the money and records had been stolen. "Time to go…" He mumbled to himself, moving to open the fake wall that would take him to his last living slave, as he had killed the others in a fit of rage, a Quarian girl. Most of his slaves lived under the house, but this time of day, he had that Quarian girl working on his weapons.

 **T-15 Minutes**

Overseer Ka'hairal Balak was quivering with rage. His guards had failed to keep the Geth outside the compound, leaving them to defend Balak while he hid in his safe room.

On the video monitors, he could see his guards failing. Knees and elbows exploded, weapons stolen but then the Geth would administer first aid.

"What the fuck is going on here?" He demanded. He watched the cameras, noting that the Geth were nearing his slave pens. "They better not steal my slaves! Those Quarians were expensive." he growled.

He gripped the table as he watched the Geth enter the slave pens. Seconds later, three of his six Quarians were led out of their cells. One Geth carried out one of his slaves, the Geth's head lighting burned red. The Geth respectfully carried the child out of the room after letting out the electronic equivalent of screaming in rage.

The other Geth turned to the sound. They saw the limp Quarian in their fellows' arms. They too joined in their scream of pain and rage at being too slow. In a small way, the Geth were mourning and letting the afterlife know that a precious soul was coming.

He watched the Geth then rip open each cage. "For the… that will cost me so much money to fix." He snarled. His rage grew as each of his slaves were carried out of his home.

"Do you know how much that Asari cost me?" He snarled as his prized Asari was carefully removed after being sedated.

"Oh, come on! Do you know how hard it is to keep a Drell woman healthy?" he growled.

"Fuck!" He snarled as he watched another being carried out. He punched the wall in his rage. He snapped several bones in his hand and broke his wrist. After jumping around in pain for a few minutes he saw the controller for the slaves.

"If I can't have them, then no one can!" He raged before pressing the button to kill all of his slaves.

Unknown to him, the button failed to do anything because the Geth had blocked all transmissions.

 **T+5 Minutes**

Balak had found a closet to hide himself in. The Geth had cleaned his estate of all resistance. Not one of his guards had been killed, but every one of them would need a limb replaced.

He jumped when the door thumped hard. He took a breath to try to calm himself. He heard the stone giving way as the Geth simply ripped open the safe room. Balak felt one of his pant legs grow warm for a moment then very cold as a wet streak formed on his pants.

He heard the Geth tossing his safe room. There were loud bangs as shelves were knocked over. He heard the Geth communicating to each other followed by the sounds of feet walking out of the safe room. Balak let out a sigh of relief.

The door flew from its hinges, smashing into the security monitors. "Overseer Ka'hairal Balak" the Geth in front of him stated "You have caused the death of a young Creator. You enslaved the creators and caused them pain. You attempted to kill the Creators and their fellow slaves, after causing them great pain. We declare that you are not worthy of the afterlife."

That Geth reached out and picked up Balak by his head with one hand. Three metal fingers gripped the Batarian still. The Geth raised his other three fingered hand. He then removed all Balak's eyes before snapping his neck.

"Trash taken care of." The Geth said before dropping the body.

 **T+15 Minutes**

Zaala'Shalin carefully stepped on broken brick in the middle of the street. The last fifteen minutes had been strange to her. She heard in the distance Batarians crying in pain, but she did not see anyone as they walked down the street.

She paused to look around when her Master snapped "Get moving you fookin slave." before shoving her.

The rifle fell out of her hands as she lost her balance. She caught herself on the ground but alas, she tore her suit. Her palms and right knee had torn. " _Bosh'tet_ " she mumbled before starting to pick herself up.

There was an extremely loud crack, a thud, then her Master started screaming. She looked back at him and saw that he was holding the stump of his left arm. On the ground was the remote for her slave collar. She snatched it up as a Geth walked up to them.

Zaala swallowed hard as she watched the Geth place his foot on her former Master's chest and then with his finger, poke out his right lower eye.

"Get back" She said, trying to scramble away from the Geth. The Geth turned his head to look at the Quarian. He walked over to her and picked her up. She was slung over the Geth's shoulder.

"Forgive us Creator. It is not safe for you." The Geth said softly.

She beat at the Geth's back, yelling at him "Put me down!" She kept saying.

After turning the street corner, and away from her Master. The Geth carefully sat her on the ground. "Forgive us for treating you like that." The Geth told her.

She looked at him. "Why are you not trying to kill me?" She asked

"The Creator was in danger. The Geth are here to save the Creators." The Geth told her. She seemed to think for a long time.

"Creator come with me if you want to live." The Geth broke the silence, startling her.

"Yes! Anything is better than being a slave for him." She said.

"Come Creator." The Geth said before turning and walking away.

Zaala got to her feet, hoping that her suit would be taken care of when they got where they were going.

 **Early morning, June 7th, 2132 Citadel, Council**

Council member Tevos looked at the Asari maiden that had entered her chambers early in the morning. She was tired, and this was in the middle of her sleep cycle.

"If a government isn't exploding, I'll have you cleaning out the slums for the rest of your life." Tevos groaned before taking a sip of water that she had on her nightstand.

"Council Member Tevos, sorry for waking you up, but there has been a Geth attack." She swallowed hard before talking again. "The Batarian were attacked by the Geth. Reports are still coming in but so far, millions of their upper caste have had limbs removed and an eye removed. So far there has been only one death reported." She said.

Tevos was fully awake now as she moved to get dressed for the Council meeting that she knew was going to happen.

Twenty minutes later she entered the Council Chambers. She noted that the other two Council members had already arrived. Council Member Jurtop was sipping on what looked like a Caf. She sighed softly as the Salarian appeared to be very chipper. He probably hadn't gone to bed yet. She looked at the Turian Council Member and felt a bit happier as he looked grumpy and as sleep deprived as she was.

"I am telling you, the Geth used Lasers in space!" Jurtop said, his hand slapping his podium.

"And how many times do I have to remind you, that is impossible to power a laser enough to make it a useable weapon at medium or long range?!" Spulus Achagius said, a touch of anger in his voice.

She sighed before walking up to them. "My aide told me that the Geth are attacking?" She asked

Jurtop looked at her "Not attacking, attacked. The Batarian Hegemony was attacked last night by the Geth." He tapped a few keys. "STG believes that they simply stole the Quarians with one notable exception. Overseer Ka'hairal Balak was killed by the Geth. STG already has the footage from the cameras in his estate. The Geth found a young Quarian, deceased, probably pre-teen, the group of Geth howled at the overhead before they stole every other slave. They then carefully removed each of Balak's eyes before executing him."

Jurtop finally took a breath "STG also has unconfirmed reports that the Geth attacked every Batarian world at the same time. Analysts are working on that now. They cleaned up after themselves as well. Any ship destroyed in orbit, the debris was taken. Reports from space say that the Geth used anti-ship Lasers to remove the Hegemony ships. The Geth seemed to care less about the ground attack as most planets were heavily damaged."

Tevos thought about that information. She tapped the podium with her finger. "It is very odd that they invaded, stole the remaining Quarains." She pursed her lips for a moment "There are about half a million Quarians left in Council space since the fleet blew up last year?"

Jurtop nodded. "Most of them are here on the Citadel working in the Presidium Ring or in places like Ilium, but that number is falling fast because the Migrant fleet is gone."

Achagius looked at the Asari Council member "I am recommending that we start preparing to face this threat. The Geth have left the Veil for the first time in three hundred years. They are kidnapping the remaining Quarians."

Jurtop nodded "Agreed. The simultaneous attack points to worrying numbers. The number of Geth ships reported greatly outnumber the Council's own. Recommend expanding the fleets. Reports show that the Geth had at least eight hundred ships in the attack. The reports also say that there were at least fifty dreadnaughts. Recommend expanding all fleets by fifty percent or more over the next five years."

Tevos looked shocked at that. "But that would mess up the balance of power."

The Turian Councilor shook his head and gave her a pitying look. "Not if all three governments build the same percentage as Jurtop just suggested." He drummed his fingers over his stand. "It also would help cement our image. Think how good it would look to have two Destiny Ascension guarding the citadel."

Tevos nodded as she smiled. "Then we expand the fleets by fifty percent." She confirmed. "Besides, this will help the economy I think. It's been a little slow lately." She said now that she had a second to think past her exhaustion.

 **June 7th, 2132: Council Space: Thessia**

Liara T'Soni sat with her Mother at the table, poking around her breakfast. Her Mother looked past her datapad that she was reading.

"Little Wing? What is the matter? I expected you to almost bounce off the walls the morning that you will receive your Masters of Archeology degree." Benezia said softly to her child.

"I was just thinking about the Geth and the Quarians. Last year, almost all of the Quarians returned to the Migrant Fleet for some reason." Liara snorted. "I don't buy that they killed themselves out of remorse for unleashing the Geth upon the galaxy."

She looked up at her Mother. "A society that managed to contain its culture, while migrating for over three hundred years, just simply doesn't choose to give up." Liara gave a sad smile to her Mother.

"Then, yesterday, the Geth attacked the Bartarians." Liara said sadly, her head bowing. "They had not left the Veil for almost three hundred years. They were content to leave their Creators alone, provided they were not attacked." She felt a tear drop from her eyes. "Then, the Quarians were gone."

"Liara, darling, we are not Quarians, so we cannot fathom or think how they did and thankfully we are not uncaring machines like the Geth." Benezia said to her child, using the voice used by parents that drives their children up the wall since time immemorial.

"Please, Mother, do not patronize me. I am not a child anymore." Liara said, her back becoming rigid.

"No, Little Wing, perhaps not. But you are still my child." Benezia said with soft tone and a smile.

Liara nodded, picking up the remains of her meal. She paused, thinking before speaking again. "It strikes me more that the Geth are mourning the loss of the Quarians, if Machines could have feelings. It was almost like they needed to protect the few that were left." She finished thoughtfully, leaving her Mother deep in thought.

 **September 9th, 2132: Orion Republic Space**

Zaala'Shalin nar Foron, now Zaala'Shalin vas Yaawa, was on the space station whose name she bore. The Yaawa was a space station safely located well outside the FTL range of the Council in Orion Republic space.

She sat down in the clean room that had been provided for her, along with the dish that she had bought in that new Quarian place on the Food Court Level. This was apparently a lot like a human dish that was made from spicy curry with bamboo, basil and chili. She flicked on the vid to see what was on.

She sighed as the song reached her ears. On the screen were suit less Quarians, whose health had seen better days. There was a chorus in the background that sung a sad song

 _In the arms of the angel_

 _Fly away from here_

 _From this dark, cold hotel room_

 _And the endlessness that you fear_

 _You are pulled from the wreckage_

 _Of your silent reverie_

 _You're in the arms of the angel_

 _May you find some comfort here_ (1)

The screen flashed, and black words covered the hurt Quarians. ' _There are only eighteen million Quarians left in the galaxy_ '

The screen flashed to a dying Quarian woman before zooming in on her face. The screen changed back to black. ' _The Quarians don't have a home world and had spent three hundred years in space.'_

The music continued for another few seconds, showing some of the horrid conditions in the Quarian fleet. The music faded as a figure came into view. He was a tall man, shaved head, long, bright red beard that came almost to his stomach.

"Good evening, I am the Commander." He started to walk forward as he kept speaking. "I come to you tonight with my heart heavy." He looked away from the camera and almost looked like he was going to cry. "Two years ago, we made a new friend in this lonely galaxy. We have rescued a lot of their missing loved ones but that is still not enough to help our friends."

The Commander sat on the edge of a reclining chair that had a fire going behind it in a very nice fireplace. "The Quarians are dying." he folded his hands over his leg. "You see, they don't have a home world like you and I have. They can't even make our world home like our other Republicans have."

The Commander smiled at the camera. "You see, for only one dollar, you can help sponsor a Quarian." The screen changed to show some of the things the money would be going for. "If only one tenth of you could find it in your hearts to donate, your money would pay for clothing and feeding all Quarians everywhere. Please visit our Kickstarter for our other donation goals." The details for the campaign flashed up on the screen.

Zaala snorted and changed the channel before the ad finished. "Call me when we have a planet to live on." She said before taking another bite of her food and changing it to Iron Ninja Chef.

A few hours later, on a whim, Zaala checked the Kickstarter. She tried to sit down in her chair but missed. The Kickstarter already had hit all the stretch goals, leaving more than enough money to start terraforming Sinclar Four into a dextro world of their own and do it as a priority project.

 **September 12th, 2132: Orion Republic Space, Eden Prime**

The director of the archaeology dig sipped her coffee, her tail sliding across the floor her as she moved through the Prothean ruins. This chamber held the beacon last year which had been sent on to Sol for Hope to decrypt however, the obelisk was very fragile, resulting in an extremely slow process to download everything.

The Viper paused in front of a door, where from sonar pings showed a large chamber. She watched the workers finish the cut in the door.

Director Hacuash nodded "Breach the chamber."

The door was pushed, letting it fall with a loud thump. Flood lamps were pushed into the room, quickly followed by the Director.

"Get some lights over here!" Hacuash called out. Light lit up one wall. "Stasis pods. Oh, my goddess...Sithspit!" She spat out, turning quickly to her staff. "There might be pods still active! Find them and make sure they stay on!"

Researchers flooded the room, some moving to the main panel in the room, others rushing along the walls, examining the pods that they thought might be active.

"The VI here reports extremely low power. There are a thousand left… God damn it!" Cried the female researcher. "We need power to pods in section KI and PI! They have less than two hours left before the VI shuts them down to keep section JAL up."

Workers spun into action, portable power generators were brought in and connected in about an hour. The director moved over to the console.

"Do we have a manifest of who is here?" asked Hacuash.

"Yes, Director. Downloading it to your pad now." Answered the VI operator.

"I'll let the Commander know what we found." Said Hacuash, shaking her head slightly before leaving the room.

A few hours later, the Director stood at the head of the conference table while around the table were her department heads. She nodded to the her Prothean expert.

"Hacuash, we have downloaded the manifest of survivors. The highest ranking Prothean is Javik, listed as the Avatar of Vengeance." Said the Muton researcher.

"What is the power situation in the chambers?" Hacuash asked.

The Muton nodded slightly. "We have stabilized most of the power within the room. I do not expect to lose any more Protheans due to power loss. Additional generators are being brought in."

The Director nodded "Then we are not in any hurry to rescue them. The Commander does not want to awaken them here. He thinks, as do I, that waking Protheans, here on the Relay Network, simply would inform our enemies that they exist still. A transport will be here later this week to pick them up to take them to Jedha."

The Muton frowned slightly. "Isn't that planet in the Civilian Exclusion Zone?"

Hacuash nodded. "Aye, it is better to awaken them in the outer core worlds, well away from the Network."

"I see, Director." Commented the Muton. "I will make the arrangements."

 **2140: Council Space: Thessia**

Liara T'Soni stood in front of her Mother's office. She took a slow deep breath before letting it out just as slowly. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Little Wing." Came the soft voice from the room.

Liara slowly entered the room, smiling at her mother. "Good evening, Mother." She said a bit formally.

Benezia leaned back in her chair, her ample bosom being pushed up as she folded her arms under her more than plentiful chest. "This will be one of _those_ types of conversations, won't it?"

Liara let out a slight growl of frustration. "I don't get it, Mother, you encourage me to learn all things Prothean. _Yet_ , you will not let me visit a Prothean dig site, so I can finish my Doctorate in Prothean." The young Asari fumed at her mother. "I am sixty-three years old, Mother. I am _not_ a child, anymore."

Benezia smiled at her daughter, slowly standing up so that she could give her child a hug. "Liara, I fear for your safety. The galaxy is not as safe as the schools make it seem. You are not ready to face what is out there. You have no perception of others when you get focused. You could get hurt out there." She finished as she stoked Liara's cheek.

"But I might not get hurt." Liara shot back.

Benezia lifted her head, almost asking their Goddess why was she blessed with such a stubborn child. "Would you accept my bodyguards to go with you?"

Liara frowned "Mother! They will smother me. How about one?"

The elder Asari frowned. "Four?"

Liara scrunched her nose at that number. "One?" She asked hopefully once more, trying to look serious but ending up looking adorably cute, instead.

"Very well. I will have Janessa M'prili travel with you." Benezia nodded to her child and let out a sigh. "I will send the payment to your University, so you can go."

Liara squealed in joy as she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou!" she said breathlessly.

 **2157: Council Space: Knossos System, Therum**

Liara tossed and turned in the light bed she laid in, only a thin sheet over her due to the heat of the planet. Her mind just would not let go of the room that she had found late the day before. There was a huge clue as to what the Protheans had planned for the structure.

Uttering a soft curse in her native tongue, Liara flung the sheet off of her naked body as she left the bed. Starting a fresh caf pot brewing, Doctor Liara T'Soni enjoyed a brief shower to help wake herself up.

Not long after the pot had finished brewing, the good Doctor of Archaeology had it in a thermos. She gathered the rest of her field equipment, dressing in her lab coat before she left. The planet's hot sun was still resting for a few more hours.

Liara paused for a moment outside of her small hut, her eyes looking at the majestic night sky, subconsciously noting how her home had such a different star pattern. Ten minutes later, she stopped inside a round room.

Inside this round room were six doors. It just had the feeling of dorms or homes now that Liara had more time to look around.

"Well, might as well start at the first door." Liara mumbled to herself as she went to door number one. She used the expensive new Prothean lock picking device that one of her Mother's companies had developed, exploiting weaknesses in the security code. It was an amazing prototype that eased open doors in moments. The only thing that Liara could see was solid stone about twenty centimeters past the doorway. This room had caved in upon itself.

"Hopefully, they are all not like that." She said mournfully to herself.

The next three doors opened to more of the same rock. The young Asari Maiden felt her heart sink with each door that failed to have more than stone inside. Door number five opened briskly, the moment she had touched the door panel, jumping as if someone still lived there.

This room was clearly living quarters from what she could see with the light from the main hall. Liara slowly entered, her flashlight snapping up to light her way. She noted the bathing area and then the food production area. Stopping in the huge meeting room, her light panned across the room.

The light froze when Liara saw a Prothean beacon. Her heart fell into her stomach when she saw that it was completely offline. Apparently, the power source had failed, causing the beacon to shut down, all the data within lost to entropy and time.

Liara slowly walked up to this beacon, stopping half a meter from it. She just stared at it. Her eyes started to lose focus. Her hand dropped, the flashlight bouncing on the deck after she dropped it.

She just felt so tired now. Her excitement at the possibility of something new had waned two doors prior. Now, disappointment settled in her heart. She felt a tear start to form in her eyes when she thought she saw a red light appear in the surface of the beacon.

Liara swallowed, her heart starting to hammer again, her eyes searching the beacon. There it was again, somewhere else! "Maybe, this wasn't a dead beacon!" she cried out. The next thing she knew was that her bodyguard, one Asari Commando Janessa M'prili, was shaking her shoulder. Liara blinked her eyes bleary.

"Wha...what time is it?" She asked meekly.

Janessa laughed. "Honey, it is after lunch. I've been looking for you for the last six hours."

Liara blustered and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, goddess, that's not possible! It was just three in the morning."

The Asari Commando playfully poked Liara's shoulder. "Kid, you and I both know that you have no idea what time is when you are nerding out on something Prothean _and_ that you are not allowed to have more than one cup of caf a day when you are."

Liara laughed at her friend. "Damn it, I need that drink." She sighed at the rule her friend used to keep her healthy before her traitor stomach growled. "Fine, let's have lunch then. I am quite hungry." She said, taking her friend's hand to let Janessa guide her to lunch.

 **2157: In Dark Space, between Star Systems**

A huge cuttlefish-like creature stretched its legs and tentacles, much like an organic creature would right after waking up from a long nap. One of the Organics had found one of his beacons. After he had scanned her pitiful mind for information useful to him, if he had been human, he would have snorted in disgust.

 _ **This Cycle is pathetic.**_ Thought the creature. He reached out his thoughts, tapping one of the strands of communication that the Relays used to gather information about those who traveled with the Relays. _**Worse, there is a fracture close to the main. The Klingons should unite with this so-called Council of Races soon. The other three civilizations have yet to find the proper relays to connect them to the rest. Unlikely to find, idiots. It is laid out before them, and yet they fail to embrace perfection.**_

 _ **The whole galaxy is weak, tier one, two tops. Protheans, at least, became a tier three. We will watch, and wait, for now.**_

The creature moved its mouth appendages around, and then became still, as if asleep again.

 **May 9th, 2250: Krogan DMZ, Tuchanka**

Urdnot Wrex stood next to his wife and clan Shaman, Bakara, on the surface of Tuchanka. They could see the cursed Shroud in the distance. The damned thing brought the Genophage to the Krogans, stopping the rebellions by making the Krogan think about losses. While it was needed at the time, not so much anymore. Now, the fucking thing just caused nothing but still born babies piled high into the sky. Two thousand years of the Salarian attempt to slowly commit genocide upon his species.

Krogan Unification had come slow but that was the plan. Change too fast, and the Krogan got all bitchy about how it wasn't tradition. Pah, thought Wrex. What tradition? Beat things up all the time? Urdnot had found the seat of Krogan might from before. That had bought the plan. The first hundred years simply was spent knuckle-breaking the other clans into following clan Urdnot. Fun times.

Bakara glanced up though her veil "Wrex, what space-based weapons are green?" she asked.

"None that I know of." Mumbled Wrex

"Then someone has invented a new weapon." she said before she pointed up.

"Well, I'll be a Salarian. Someone did. Hmph. Probably won't share it." He grumbled.

"We don't need a new…." Her voice trailed off as there was a flash of white in the sky but what got her attention was the streak of green.

Wrex watched the ball of green plasma arc across the sky. He had requested a point of impact and was waiting on the response. When he heard it beep, he let his eyes move from the Plasma bolt in the sky. He chuckled softly.

"Nothin' that matters out there, anyway." he told his wife.

Thirty seconds later, there was a flash of light that they had to turn away from. When they looked back, a small mushroom cloud had formed. As the dust cleared, the Shroud was simply gone. When they were able to get a better look later, the ground was still burning green in spots from the heat of the Plasma. It looked like the Shroud had melted.

"The Salarians are not going to be happy about that." Wrex said with a grin.

Bakara turned to her husband. "I suspect that the clans will need to be called together for defense, then."

Wrex smiled at his wife "Probably not. The Geth are doing nothing more than a fly by."

Bakara tilted her head slightly "How do you know it's the Geth?"

"Oh, three inserted themselves into my omni-tool just point seven seconds before the nuke went off. Impressive to ride the giant ball of green death followed by a nuclear fuck you." Wrex said, laughing softly. "Before they left, they let me know what was going on."

"Showoffs."

Wrex snorted but agreed with the observation.

 **May 9th, 2250, Citadel, Council**

In the Council Chambers, the three Councilors had ended an eight-hour meeting thirty minutes prior. Tevos smiled at the new Salarian Council member, finally done with the post-meeting conversations. The new member still had a lot to learn before she just accepted that Tevos was simply right and to follow her lead, making the whole process even more tiresome. She was meeting with the Consort in half an hour. She needed that relaxation.

Tevos jumped when the doors were flung open. "Councilors! The Geth are attacking!" said the Salarian that barged in. "They have destroyed all of Tuchanka's orbital platforms and the Shroud, the Volus have already surrendered to the Geth, and they have taken the Turian colonies in the Aethon cluster."

Tevos sighed as she ran her hand over her forehead. Running the galaxy was so much hard work. What was the point if she could never enjoy the perks that came with the Job? The Geth were simply not going to do anything. They left the veil after three hundred years to do what? Steal a few Quarians? Who gave a crap about a few suit-rats anymore? That's all they were doing now, she reasoned to herself.

"Thank you, they've done this silliness before, starting with stealing a few Quarians and I'm sure that's all it is this time. No one died before, no one will die now. We will discuss this in the next Council meeting." She said, a little hotly.

The Turian Councilor spoke up "Turian colonies _and_ the Krogan DMZ are being attacked. We will discuss this now, Councilor Tevos!" he finished with a growl.

After taking a few calming breaths, she spoke calmly to her Council members. "My, my, aren't we overreacting? Last time they were gone in less than a day and did very little to any damage to anything that mattered. The STG can replace the Should, maybe even improve upon it." She said, with a dismissive wave.

"What about the Turian colonies that are being attacked?" Demanded the Turian Councilor

She made a show of pondering this before speaking again "Hmmmm well as a show of compassion the Council will ease their tax burden the rest of this year by ten percent."

The Turian Council member looked at Tevos like she was out of her mind. "That is not good enough, Council member Tevos."

Tevos let out a long-suffering sigh before she stood back at her podium. "Very well. Council is in session. Orderly, please read out the minutes of the last session." She ordered.

"What are you doing, Tevos?" Snarled the Turian Councilor.

"You wished to discuss this now, yes? This requires the Council to be in session. There are procedures to follow here." She finished, her head tilting as she smacked the back of her hand into her other palm.

The Turian growled out "No, we are here. We will discuss what we are going to do about the Geth."

Tevos held her hands out, in an I don't know type move. "Well, I don't know what else you were planning but if the Council isn't in session, then I have another meeting." She said before primly picking up her few items. She huffed at the other two Council members before leaving.

The Salarian Councilor looked at his Turian counterpart "Is she always like this?"

There was a sigh "No, I am not sure what has gotten into her." He pondered for a moment. "Due to needing Council approval to move fleets of this tonnage and weapons outside of Hierarchy space, the Hierarchy requests from the Council its approval to clear the Geth from Council space."

The Salarian smiled "As the Salarian Unions Representative to the Council, I would like to second the request to send the Turian fleet in." He looked around for a moment. "Would the Asari Republics wish to have a voice in this matter?" The two of them said nothing for five minutes. "Now to place it to a vote."

The Turian spoke loud and clear "The Turian Councilor votes aye."

The Salarian responded "The Salarian Councilor votes aye."

Both members stood there, not talking for five minutes before the Turian spoke again "The Asari Councilor abstains from voting. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned.'

The Salarian handed his counterpart a data pad. It showed a video from the Shroud before it melted. "We think that this is superheated plasma of some sort, clearly the Geth found a method of containment that works in space and on the surface."

The Turian tapped his finger to his chin. "We will inform the fleets of this development. Is there a counter?"

The Salarian shook his head "Not yet, but STG and the best minds on Sur'kesh started last night." He glanced around before whispering "I think Tevos has been on the Council too long. She seems to think this is her own personal empire."

The Turian glanced at the new member and sent him a glance of don't talk about that here. He glanced over to the orderly and waved him over to order dinner. This was going to be a long night.

 **May 12th, 2250 - Council Space, Knossos System, Therum, Dig Site Thetha**

News of the Geth attack had finally reached Liara's dig site a few days after the attack. It had brought up another round of arguments and discussions about the Geth.

"This just proves that the Geth are a threat to all of us!" Janessa drawled out, passion in the last few words, her drink splashing slightly as she used it to gesture. It was just a friendly discussion between the two friends.

"This is an anomaly, I would agree." Liara said, her voice pensive. "They are looking for something." She finished, her finger tapping her mouth in thought.

"They ruined the Shroud." Janessa said pointedly "The Krogan will run wild!"

Liara shook her head slightly in disagreement. "I don't think so." She said as she slid a datapad to her friend. "Even if they wanted to, they still have the Genophage. And I'm not so sure they do want to. The Krogan seem to be uniting after finding out their racial history. Look, they even had another skin tone before they nuked themselves. Wrex as a Ruler has the whole race focused on the planet itself."

Janessa glanced down at a picture of a green creature that looked more fearsome than Krogans normally do. "Perhaps..." She said thoughtfully.

Liara looked at her friend. "I think the Geth saw the Krogan oppressed like their deceased creators, so they did something about it. The attack on the Volus I think was just to draw the Turian fleet away from the Krogan DMZ."

Janessa let out a belly laugh, her hands wrapping around her stomach before she fell off the chair. "Bah-ahahaa!" She said, her hands going out to grab anything but failing as she landed on her side. This caused her to laugh even harder.

Liara let out a huff, her cheeks turning rosy. "You don't have to laugh so hard at me."

The fallen Asari finally got control of herself after a few moments. "But you make it so easy." Her voice came out cracked and a bit horse.

The Doctor looked at her friend and let out a sigh before taking back her datapad. She changed the image to a carving.

"Fine." She said a slightly forced tone. "Let's talk about this conduit that the Protheans speak of here."

 **July 17th, 2284 - Council Space, Citadel, Slums**

Liara's bodyguard took her job, personally given to her by her Matriarch, very seriously. She hated it when Liara went into the Slums to find some sort of Prothean artifact that some thief had stolen or to prove someone had been selling fake Prothean wares.

This lovely morning on the Citadel, Janessa found herself standing behind her charge at some stupidly random booth some random Asari had been selling Prothean trinkets. Liara tried once to find out where they had come from with no luck, but something just was strange by this Asari.

"You said you are from Tamaris?" Janessa suddenly asked.

"Pardon me?" came the reply from the store owner.

"I asked if you came from Tamaris." Janessa said once more.

The other Asari nodded. "Yes, I am from there."

Janessa smiled at the other woman. "How is Hugo?"

"Excuse me? Who is Hugo?" came the confused reply.

The Asari Commando narrowed her eyes. "Hugo runs the space sport." She said, her voice becoming dangerous. "He knows every Asari on the planet because every single bit of goods travel through his hands."

The shopkeeper glanced around nervously "You need to leave now. The shop is closed."

"Ha!" Shouted Janessa as she leveled her pistol at the other woman. "Who are you really?"

"I am just a simple shopkeeper." Responded the frightened woman, her hands up in the air, slowly backing away from Janessa.

"What are you doing?" Asked Liara.

"I don't think she is really an Asari." Spat Janessa. "She feels wrong."

Liara turned her head slightly, frowning at the shopkeeper.

"Stop moving." Ordered Janessa.

The shopkeeper froze, her back almost at the door to the rear of the shop. Her hand snapped into a cabinet, drawing back a rifle. Janessa fired two rounds, one into each shoulder.

"Son of a whore!" Screamed the shopkeeper. "Do you KNOW how much this hurts?" She cried out. At the same time, the Asari woman simply melted away. The form turned into a gooey clay like substance that came in at almost three meters tall.

The Chameleon turned and dove through the rear door as Janessa fired several more rounds into the gooey back of the whatever it was. Liara hit the emergency number for Citadel Security for her bodyguard.

"This is Asari Commando Janessa M'prili. We have a problem in the slums. A new species has found its way onto the Citadel. They are shapeshifters. The shopkeeper of Merefi's Goods is one. She appeared to be full Asari until an altercation broke out and she was shot. Moments after being hit, she turned into this extremely tall goo creature." She shouted into Liara's omni-tool.

Suddenly, the lights changed outside, red started flashing and orders filled the air. " _ **This is Citadel Security. We are initiating a security lockdown of the Citadel. For the safety of yourself and others, please land your skycars at the nearest safe location. For those not traveling, please stay where you are. C-Sec out.**_ "

C-Sec arrived minutes later to start tearing apart the shop to find clues. Several hours later, the Turian in charge of C-Sec, one Marcevius Trenitus, found himself standing before the Council.

"Councilors, thank you for your time." He said, slightly bowing to them. "C-Sec has completed its initial investigation of the claims that Asari Commando Janessa M'prili made. We found them to be true. There was some sort of creature that could take Asari shape. She had lived on the Citadel for two years. There had been no indications of trouble prior to this." He let out a sigh before speaking again. "C-Sec thinks that the Geth are behind this intrusion."

Tevos frowned as she tilted her head slightly. "The Geth? Why would they be involved?"

The head of C-Sec shook his head slightly. "That is somewhat unclear at the moment. We have found many hidden messages sent to the Perseus Veil, hiding within official Turian channels. The equipment used to send the messages clearly belonged to the Geth. I request that we come up with an in-depth scanner that might pierce whatever images these shapeshifters use to hide themselves."

The Salarian Councilor thought for a moment. "That is a very good suggestion. I will pass it along to STG."

Trenitus bowed slightly. "That concludes our initial findings. I will provide a full accounting in forty-eight hours."

"Very well." Said Tevos. "You are dismissed."

The Salarian Councilor watched the head of C-Sec leave the chambers. "This is disturbing." He stated with massive understatement. "The Geth are starting to experiment with biological machines. "

"We can't fight them." The Turian Councilor said, anger in his voice. "We don't have a counter to their plasma or lasers yet." He snorted "Hell, we just finished the first prototype laser weapon that we think matches the Geth's own. It only took us about one hundred years to finish." He looked at his fellow Councilors. "If we fought them today, we would fail terribly."

"This new Geth unit would make the perfect STG Agent." Commented the Salarian. "We would have never found out unless something like this happened."

"How soon can you counter this new move?" Asked Tevos. This was a major blow to her status quo. The masses would object to being scanned every time they arrived at the Citadel. Those that lived here would riot if their privacy was revoked.

The Salarian blinked a few times, trying to do rough math in his head. "Six months to a year, minimum."

"This scanner cannot be invasive. It is a simple yes or no question. Are they who they claim to be or are they not." Tevos commanded, expecting her orders to be followed.

The Salarian Councilor frowned slightly before responding "We will pass that recommendation along."

With that, the three of them returned to the more mundane meeting that was everyday life for them.

 **February 28th, 2290: Council Space, Council**

Maedum Dezoni, the Salarian Councilor, read the STG report on one Urdnot Wrex. This was one interesting Krogan, she had thought at the end of it.

 _The Krogan race had constantly fought each other, save for twice in their history. They had briefly united four thousand years ago but, thanks to the advancement to the Atomic age, they ended up destroying their civilization along with most of their planet._

 _Two thousand years later, they were mostly united in fighting the Rachni and then later the Council. As you know, this led to the creation of the Genophage. This slowed the Krogan down enough that attrition mattered to them. After the rebellions, the Krogan scattered into many smaller mercenary groups that are easily manipulated._

 _Over the last one hundred and fifty years, Urdnot Wrex has been attempting to unify the Krogan clans. Wrex has been extremely charismatic with his fellow clan leaders. His allies even gave him nominal control over their lands as their overlord, a temptation he has not abused, while he has proven his title of Battlemaster repeatedly. Despite the best efforts of the STG, which included numerous attempts to apply extremely large explosives to the problem, Urdnot Wrex remained inexplicably alive._

 _Though his efforts, the Krogan have rediscovered lost history buried under the surface of their planet. This has caused a reform of sorts throughout the Krogan culture. The last seventy-five years has seen a large down turn in Krogan violence and, even more importantly, a reduction of Krogan Mercenary groups. This shift in the thinking of the average Krogan has improved them from a mindless killing machine to one that thinks before attacking._

 _The implications of this are staggering. No longer are the Krogan slaves to their blood lust. A logical Krogan is a threat to the galaxy at large. With Urdnot Wrex at the helm, I do not believe that there is a threat. However, if Wrex were removed from leadership at this point in time, the unleashed Krogan would make the Rebellions look like child's play. The only true thing holding them back at the moment is the Genophage._

 _There is great concern that the Krogan are adapting to the Genophage once more, this time socially. In the last twenty years, the numbers of stillborn children have reduced dramatically but this also has coincided with a massive reduction in the amount of eggs laid by the Krogan._

 _It is also possible that the Krogan have finally adapted to the Genophage and reduced their birth rates accordingly. There is a chance that, since the destruction of the Shroud, the Genophage is being cured but research by STG finds this to be an unlikely possibility._

Maedum sat the report down and let out a slow breath. This Wrex would stand in front of the Council in a few hours to report about some discovery that the Independent Krogan League had found.

STG was losing their fabled touch by allowing the Krogan to even come close to united, the Councilor had thought. She changed the Report to the one on Tevos, the Asari Councilor. This report was very dry.

The highlights covered that Tevos had held her position for well over three hundred years. She was very connected. In the last Geth Attack, she had lost a little face but gained much of it back when the Geth did, in fact, leave the very next morning as she'd predicted. STG had been trying to get her replaced for decades, but she was just too smooth of a politician. Nothing stuck to her.

Maedum sipped at her caf before reviewing the next few reports for the meeting in a few hours. She let out a soft sigh, finding herself once more wishing that she was back in the thick of things with the STG.

A few hours later found Maedum standing at her podium, looking down at the Krogan Leader standing before her.

"Wrex, of Clan Urdnot, Leader of the Independent Krogan League, you have come before this Council to inform us of a great discovery. What is this discovery?" The Salarian asked.

"Councilors, four thousand years ago, Krogan history was rich and vibrant. History would teach us that the Krogan race attempted to destroy itself. Thanks to recent findings, we know now that this is not the case.

"My restoration teams have restored parts of what had been the Capital of Tuchanka. As we rediscovered our history, we learned something very strange. We once had smoother skin, with skin tones in the green hues. We also learned that the Salarians were not the first to visit our world." Wrex paused for the effect. He was rewarded with a few gasps from the Asari in the room.

"As we dug more, we learned that these visitors called themselves the Elders. These Elders appeared to be nothing but the friendliest overlords. They helped the Krogan people find faith in themselves and a common goal for the first time. The Elders were worshipped along with our own Gods. Then, we stopped being useful to them. They used their powers that they held over us for ruin. They were the ones that touched the sky with our own weapons. The history that the Salarians found had been nothing but clever forgeries to ensure that, when some new race's archaeologists found us, their interference would go unnoticed.

"We later found that these elders stole many of our kind for their own ends. Clan Urdnot could not let this insult go unanswered. No, we funded many expeditions deep into space, far from the Relay network. After much searching, Clan Urdnot is pleased to announce that we have found our long-lost brothers!" He shouted, his hand moving to the rear of the room.

From the shadows, a Muton stepped forward, walking closer to Wrex. The Muton was unarmed.

"Once we found our lost brothers, this new species of Krogan are called Mutons, we quickly reunited with each other as our warrior culture survived within them as well. Like those left behind by the Elders only to be discovered by the Salarians, our Muton Brothers are also scattered across the Galaxy, in deep space. At this point, I would reassure the Council that we respected their laws; we did not open any Relays to find the Mutons." Wrex finished.

Tevos nodded slightly "We welcome the addition to the Krogans. The Council is also very grateful that the Krogans have finally learned their place within civilized society."

The Krogan felt his rage boil at the insult but Wrex simply bowed slightly before taking the dismissal. They had done their job, disrupting the status quo again. For that, and to piss off the Salarians, he'd be diplomatic.

 **Early Morning, March 4th, 2300 Parnitha system**

The young Maiden sat at her terminal, the screen playing the new Prothean Hunter game when she should have been watching the scanners. Normally, it was quite safe, vessels never game during the night cycle. On average, it was quite on the boring side for a night watch.

This one day however, she might of been able to alert her superiors what had just appeared in the system above Piares. Alarms started to blare.

"Report!" Came the demand from the Commando, the watch officer.

However, it was already too late as all systems shut down but life support. The maiden's terminal went black before she could switch over to the sensors.

"No idea!" came the response from the now scared operator. "My terminal just went offline!"

"Someone find out what the hell is going on out there!" Demanded the Commando. The Asari around her burst into action. Meanwhile, the Commando attempted to bring up her omni-tool, but nothing happened.

"Pah, does someone have a spare omni-tool? Mine just died." The Commando asked.

There were several cries of dismay as they discovered all of their omni-tools were offline. They soon discovered that the lifts were also offline. It took well over three hours before the Commando had her report.

"How the hell can everything be offline but power and life support?!" Snarled the Commando. "Go fucking repair the damn things already!" she ordered. Little did she know how bad it truly was going to be for the Asari.

Across the Asari home system, every single ship had shut down save for power and life support, along with the spaceports in the system. Each vessel was sensor blind and full of panicking passengers.

The Matriarch Council on Thessia found themselves in a full panic to put it mildly. To them, this was worse than the Rachni war. _**Nothing**_ had made Thessia go dark before. Every bit of tech that they had relied upon had failed. Later, they would find that the medical facilities were not affected but at the moment that also was a cause for worry as many would have died if their life saving devices were shut down.

It had taken three hours for the few dozen Matriarchs that lived in the city to arrive in the Thessian Council Chambers. Normally, the hall would have been filled with over a thousand, but they required transportation that no longer worked.

There had been a lot of screaming and shouting at each other for yet more hours but nothing productive was accomplished because they simply had no idea what was going on. That is until three Geth Primes marched in.

"You _dare_ try to invade Thessia!" The head of the Council screamed at the lead Geth Prime.

"Asari-Councilor, this unit requests that all Asari stand down. We have shut down Thessian defences and taken steps to preserve Asari life for the duration of our stay." The lead Geth said in its dual-voiced tones, but with a very polite tone, even bowing slightly as he spoke. "The Geth are looking for special objects. These objects are harmful to the Asari people. Once we discover these objects, then we will return control to the Asari Republics."

"Over my dead body." Spat the head Matriarch before she blurred into a blue streak. The Geth Prime made no move to defend itself, when suddenly, as she closed to a half meter away from the Prime, she just simply stopped. She fell to the ground, panting and feeling like her muscles had turned to liquid.

All around the chamber, the moment the semi-retired Commando made her charge, the rest of the women lit up with their own biotics. Every single attack failed half a meter from the three Geth.

"That is not acceptable behavior." Said the Geth Prime. "This is the first and last warning. Do not attempt to attack us. You will not enjoy the results."

Outside the chamber, white discs with edges painted red shimmered outside the windows, hovering three meters above the ground. In unison, they all opened, showing a terrifying sight. The discs looked like some sort of hovering bird, with heavy guns mounted in the center. The sounds of the transformation reached inside to the Matriarchs.

The Commando Matriarch swallowed and brought herself to one knee. Suddenly appearing above the discs was her image.

"You are being broadcast to all Asari in this system." The Geth Prime informed her.

Tesyxes Matois swallowed her pride as she knelt before the Prime. "In the interests of the peoples of the Asari Republics, we surrender to the Geth. No Asari shall attempt to harm the Geth as long as they keep their word not to harm us and that they will depart once they have found the items they are looking for."

The Geth opened its lights for a moment then closed them. "The Geth accept your surrender."

As the Prime started to speak, the Cyberdiscs departed the airspace of the Council chambers. "All non-essential electronics will remain disabled for the duration of the occupation." The Geth left the chamber, leaving the Asari to wonder what the hell they were looking for that was worth all of this.

 **March 4th, 2300 Trebia system**

The Geth attacked the Turians simultaneously as they did Sur'kesh and Thessia. While they were able to plan the attack to be on the night watch of Sur'kesh and Thessia, it was the day cycle on Palaven's primary space watch.

This was chosen because it would cause more chaos for the Turians. Who would dare attack the mighty Turian fleet in broad daylight. They also wished to test the effectiveness of their new fighter craft. These craft were semi-biological in nature. The Geth were experimenting with creating their own form of Digital Human based on historical science fiction archives preserved since the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries.

Leading the assault were two dozen wedge-shaped white starships. Fighters poured out of the bottom, their red lights scanning back and forth as they moved to intercept the Turians' own fighters. They quickly found their targets throughout the system, moved to full throttle, a rate of acceleration much greater than the Turians' own craft could reach. The Trebia system was a target-rich environment.

The Geth, while not using the Relay itself, had dropped out of FTL near the Relay to provide a ruse into tricking the Turians into thinking that the attack had come from there and that they needed to retain control of it. As the fighters continued to discharge themselves from their command crafts, the larger ships moved deeper into the system, spreading themselves apart from each other.

Across the system, in orbit above Palaven, alarms blared in the Command Center of the Dreadnaught, _THS Diatryma_. Admiral Flolonia Palitumus stormed forward.

"What is going on out there, Sensors?" The Admiral demanded.

"Ma'am, we are detecting twenty-four ships out there, all but two coming in at one point six kilometers in length." Came the reply, but the voice sounded like he could not believe his eyes. Only a madman would attack Palaven! "It would appear that we are facing two squadrons, each led by a ship that is nineteen kilometers long." The sensor officer shook his head as he finished, in shock at what he was seeing. "We are not detecting any mass effect fields either."

Flolonia blinked twice before responding. "The sensors have to be malfunctioning. No one can build a ship that large, much less use zero eezo. Check again."

"Yes, Ma'am." Came the reply. "We checked with other ships in the fleet. Each ship reports the exact same thing. Somehow, they've found a way to move that much mass."

The Admiral closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. "Someone find out how the hell they got this deep into Turian space without us knowing what the flying fuck is going on! Until they do, we have to deal with this mess!" She snarled before calmly asking "Has the _THS Victorus_ completed the refit?"

"Mostly, Ma'am. They are still having trouble with powering the port weapons. There is a short in the system that forces them into a ninety second cooldown every six minutes." Came the response.

"Very well, tell the _Victorus_ to keep their port flank away from the attackers and the cruisers to prevent their port side from being attacked. I want that ship in front, trying those new super lasers." Commanded the Admiral.

Before the order could be confirmed, a call came from the Sensor officer. "Ma'am! We are detecting several thousand space fighter craft."

"Who the fuck uses fighters to attack?" The Admiral asked herself in an amused tone. "Deploy what we have to defend."

In space, the two fleets moved closer together. The Geth fleet had spread itself out, while the Turian fleet clustered together. A massive round launched from the Patrol fleet's own dreadnaught, covering the gap in space in seconds, impacting the lead ship. The round exploded a hundred meters away from the ship.

"Ma'am, whoever this new race is, it looks like they have developed energy shielding." Sensors said.

Flolonia snorted "Of course! Since they already broke one law in physics about shipbuilding, they had to break another."

Alarms started to blare "Laser fire, direct hit on the starboard side! Shot tore out several dozen meters of hull. We are venting life support into space. Damage control teams responding." came a yell from the back of the bridge.

"Let me know as soon as that is sealed." The ship's Captain responded.

"Admiral, you need to see this!" Came the shout from the Damage Control officer a tense minute later.

Flolonia came over to him "Report." Came the demand from the Admiral, her voice very frustrated at the situation.

The officer took a deep breath "Damage Control teams report zero damage to the ship."

"How the hell is that possible?" The Admiral demanded. "The damage control system must be mistaken then or taken damage."

"Everything in that section but life support is offline. We know the personnel in the area are still alive, but we cannot rescue them until we start cutting open doors." Damage Control said.

"Keep me posted" Flolonia ordered before returning to her holo map to lead the battle. A suspicion was starting to form.

" _Ravuna, Korvatos,_ and _Aurus_ have been destroyed." said her aide.

"Do we have visual confirmation of this?" Flolonia demanded, the trick with the reported damage fresh in her mind.

"No, Ma'am?" Came the confused response.

"Send a squad of fighters to visually inspect their last known locations." Flolonia ordered

Moments later came the response. "Ma'am, all three ships are physically still there. There are lights on but no response to hails. They have also come to a full stop."

"Son of a fucking bitch." Flolonia slammed her fist into the console in front of her "Have we confirmed the attack force visually?"

"Yes, Ma'am" Responded sensors. "Fighter craft have visually confirmed the size and location of the attacking craft. "

"By the spirits." Flolonia swore. "It is like we are playing fucking war games, only our guns are loaded with live ammo. Tell Engineering that we have a virus in the computer, find it. Now, let's win the game," she finished, her mind working the map to find an answer to the problems she saw.

Three minutes later, her ship had been deactivated with the exception of sensors and life support. They watched in horror as the twenty-four ships disabled or ignored the rest of Palaven's defenses and encircled her home world, their points pointed at the surface. There were two rings of ships, twelve in each ring. They watched as even more ships disgorged themselves from the attacking force. Palaven was going to fall and they could do nothing about it.

 **Late evening, March 4th, 2300 Trebia system, Palaven**

Galus Quenion, Primarch of the Turian Hierarchy stood on his balcony, fires burning in the distance, the huge, wedge-shaped ships darkening the sky above him. He had taken biological break from the War Room to clear his mind. Sadly, it was not working for him, as worried for his responsibilities as he was.

"Palaven burns for the first time since the Unification Wars." He growled, his fingers gripping the rail before him.

A door opened behind the Primarch, allowing a General to enter. "General Candinian." came the voice of the Primarch, filled with cold anger.

"Sir. The Geth are not using explosives of any kind. The pulse guns that they are using simply stun any Turian that is hit. They have not awoken yet." Septivus Candinian told the Primarch.

"Palaven _**burns**_ because of the _Geth_!" Galus all but screamed, his arm snapping out to the side to point his finger at the largest fire he could see.

"Our own troops caused those fires." came the shame-filled response from Septivus.

The Primarch clicked his manables together in shock. This was not expected. Moments later, he spoke in quiet but harsh tones as he tried to keep his anger in check. "Issue a directive to all of Palaven: Explosives are not authorized for use."

The General nodded and left the room. Galus returned to watching the planet burn, which made him feel even worse because now he knew that the Turians harmed it, themselves.

It had taken less than an hour before the Geth stood outside the Palace. The Geth had requested parlay with the Primarch. Two hours later, Galus walked down the long steps to the gate, garbed in his most regal attire.

"Speak, Geth." Galus called out, his rage barely contained, fury burning in his eyes.

"Quenion-Primarch, The Geth have defeated your Navy. We have marched nearly unhindered to this Palace. Across this planet, Geth have secured every city center. We have deactivated all non-essential electronics for the duration of the occupation. We are searching for items of great interest to the future of the Geth." came the response, amplified by a speaker so all could hear.

"Once these items have been acquired, the Geth will depart. If there are no harmful actions by the Turians, the Geth will not continue to attack. The Turians will obey all Geth orders given to them while we search for the lost items. The Geth will not order a Turian into harm." A Geth Prime opened the gate and walked in.

He handed the Primarch a data pad with a surrender document displayed. Quenion spent the next few minutes reviewing the text, finding that it was legal speak for what the Geth told him. He closed his eyes. He let out a long breath as he opened them. This was best for those who lived on the planet.

"Very well. The Turian Hierarchy…sur...sur...surrenders to the Geth as agreed upon." Quenion said, pulling his robes over himself to try to retain some dignity.

"Surender has been broadcast across this system." The Geth said before walking out.

 **March 6th, 2300 Citadel, Council**

Council Member Tevos was not having the best day, one that had started over forty-eight hours prior when the Geth attacked the governments that made up the Citadel Council. To add to the insult to her honor, she had been recorded speaking about the Geth.

"Every time the Geth leave the Veil, it's just for a damn day. It's nothing to worry about." Tevos' image said on the recording that was broadcasting while she walked past the long bank of videos that lined the walls to the lift that would take her to the Council Chambers.

"Does the Council even care about us?" Asked the reporter's image that had appeared, larger than life. "It would seem that Council Member Tevos does not…" Tevos ignored the rest of the inconsequential drivel from the reporter.

The ramble was cut off as Tevos entered the lift. Thankfully, the car was empty. She leaned into the back wall, letting out a breath of fatigue. The door opened a few floors later. To her surprise, Urdnot Wrex entered the lift.

"Heard you had some trouble with some Geth." He rumbled to Tevos. "Just so you know, the Krogan would rather die than help the Council again."

He stepped off the lift on the very next floor, clearly disgusted to be around the Asari Council Member. Tevos closed her eyes once Wrex left, that particular avenue became closed off to her before she could even try to exploit it. With the surrender of all three of their home governments, there was very little that they could do but watch.

She let out a growl at that thought. How dare they fold under such a little thing?! The Asari Republics were stupid to bend the knee to the Geth. She knew how to fix that. There would blood but that never had been a problem before.

Tevos brought a smile to her face as she saw the other two Councilors already standing at their thrones. With the public nature of their Geth problem, they would not have time for the usual pre-meeting. They would have to follow her lead. The galaxy depended on them being able to keep up.

The Asari stood at her throne, her eyes glancing over the little ones below her, exactly as it should have been. Tevos felt very strongly about her right to rule and how she knew better than anyone else how the Galaxy should be shaped. Now, she would prove it once again.

After the Council came into session, Tevos waited for any new business to be called. As she went through the motions, she reached out to stroke the small Ju-Ju ball that Matriarch Benezia had given to her all those years ago. It calmed her soul to have it, making her feel even more justified in what she was going to ask for.

"I have something to say." Tevos started. "Two days ago, the Geth attacked and occupied our home worlds. The Geth then somehow tricked them into surrendering or faked the images. There is no doubt that the Geth have slaughtered everyone on our home worlds."

Tears formed in Tevos' eyes as she spoke again. "I beseech this Council to declare the surrender nothing but a forgery by a clever enemy. The Council needs to take control over all of our ships due to our Home Governments being unable to."

The Salarian blinked her eyes a few times. "Are you stupid?" Came the response, dripping of sarcasm.

"The Primarch honorably surrendered to the Geth. Every time the Geth have left the Veil, very little harm has been done, as you have pointed out in the past..." The Turian Councilor spoke "Each of our governments swore to cease hostilities, which were causing nothing but harm to our own people. We could not even _harm_ the Geth. You saw the live feed of Thessia. How can we fight something that can take away our best weapon?" He clicked his manables together, clearly frustrated.

"We will not overturn the surrender." The Salarian Councilor finished for her counterpart.

Tevos fumed, her rage burning deep within her. "Very well." She said through clenched teeth. So much for them following her lead, the imbeciles! "As the representative of the Asari Republics and their collective wisdom…" Tevos was an expert at damage control, of course, like she was an expert at so many things. If only she didn't have to use her expertise so often to fix the incompetence of others! "I will have to accept the will of the Council."

 **March 6th, 2300 - Citadel, Presidium Ring**

Doctor Liara T'Soni paced back and forth in her bedroom in the Citadel, worried about her Mother, trapped on Thessia by the Geth. The young Asari Maiden rubbed her face with her hands when the door opened, letting in her bodyguard.

Janessa had a look of worry that matched her charges own. "Liara…" She said softly

Liara turned to look at her friend. She rushed up to her, wrapping her arms around the other Asari. She started to cry into her friends' neck

"Mother…" Sobbed Liara.

Janessa started to stroke Liara's back. "I'm worried about her too." Came the tender response "The Geth went out of their way before not to hurt anyone. I don't think that they will hurt anyone this time either."

The two of them stood there for a long time, letting Liara cry out her worry. Liara stood back, taking her friends hands. She took several deep breaths before speaking.

"I feel better now." Liara smiled.

Janessa smiled "Good. We probably should try to find those tablets we found, the red ones."

Liara snorted. "That fabled relay. I wish they hadn't disappeared two years ago."

The bodyguard nodded. "That whole shipment was stolen." She sighed softly before pouring herself a drink. "Want something?"

"Water for now." Came the response before Janessa started about putting together a small lunch.

 **April 4th, 2300 Trebia system, Palaven**

The last month had been very strange for the Turians. While most of the electronic systems were shut down, some still worked. They could prepare meals for themselves, but they had no electronic entertainment. Many Turians had found themselves turning to old books, long forgotten knowledge contained within their fragile pages.

Other Turians found that drawing brought them peace of mind. Several engineers even had drawn up a new shielding system that, in theory, protected better than simple barriers. The next issue they were tackling was how to power the shields and deal with the extra heat.

The Primarch had watched with growing concern a building being erected. He watched the progress every day from his office. What really worried him were the extremely large tanks that had been built next to the building. He confirmed his suspicions today as the Geth forced everyone, Turian and non-Turian alike, from the city into the building.

He had been forced to watch them carefully select a thousand Turians and lead them into vast chambers along the back wall. After everyone had been forced inside, huge metal doors locked behind them. When the chamber was opened again thirty minutes later, it was empty.

"By the _spirits!_ " Gasped Quenion when he saw the chambers were empty. "They are gassing us."

Quenion felt his legs grow weak as he used the wall to support himself.

"Primarch, are you ok?" Asked one of his aids.

"Spirits! NO!" Came the growl from Quenion. "They are killing us even though we swore to not fight them."

Quenion stormed forward, feeling his fear turning into a blinding rage. He damn near grabbed a Geth Prime by the neck as he was leading another thousand into a chamber.

"We had a deal, Geth!" Snarled Quenion

"Quenion-Primarch." The Prime responded. "The Geth are not harming any Turians."

"Bullshit!" Quenion spat. "You are killing Turians in there!"

The Geth Prime tilted its head to the right. "Negative, Primarch-Turian."

"Then show me!" Quenion roared, specs of spittle flying from his lips.

"Very well." The Prime stated simply. A young Turian was plucked out of the crowd to make allowance for Quenion.

Quenion tried to keep his breathing very calm as the door closed. He heard bolts sealing everyone within the chamber. He looked around the vastness of the chamber. Took in the vents above them. There was a blinding yellow light that came over the room, it was so bright that Quenion had to shield his eyes.

"Sprits! They killed Situs!" Quenion heard someone scream after the light had faded. He started to look around and noted that about fifty Turians laid on the ground.

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound above them. Quenion swallowed hard, his eyes moving up. What he saw sent nothing but pure horror directly into his heart. Green and blue clouds of smoke were starting to billow out in the overhead.

Quenion wrapped his arms around an elderly woman, who had no one around her. "No one should be alone when they face their ancestors." he said to her, his voice soft and caring.

"I stand proud to meet my husband and sons again." Said the old Turian woman, her head held proud.

While he held her, Quenion stood tall like any Turian should be as they face death. That's when he noticed a smell that reminded him of his times at his Grandmama's home as a boy. He started to look around, confusion clear on his face as more amazing smells assaulted him.

"What a strange way to die, remembering smells." Quenion mumbled. The smoke filled the air for a few minutes. When the smoke cleared, the fallen Turians were gone.

Quenion turned his head quickly, trying to understand what exactly just happened. The inner door suddenly opened. Every single Turians jaw dropped. Before them was a vast hall, filled with Turians feasting and having nothing but the utmost fun.

"Spirits, what is going on here?" Quenion gasped out, his mind not believing his senses.

A Turian came up to him from outside, cutting though the gathered Turians to walk up to the Primarch. "Greetings, Primarch. The Geth informed us that you were with this group. Please come with me, I will take this group to their table." The Turian clearly was dressed like a waiter.

"While you are walking, please, everyone, think about what drink you would enjoy tonight. We have nothing but the best chefs tonight." The waiter called out to the other Turians. He led them to the far table before facing the Primarch.

"Sir, we were not expecting your party for another three hours. If you would come with me, I will lead you to your private table." The waiter said before taking the Primarch to a back chamber.

"I had to find out what exactly is going on." Quenion said, a little confusion still in his voice.

"What is going on here, Primarch, is the greatest feast that Palaven has ever seen!" Exclaimed the waiter as he led the Primarch to a side chamber.

Inside the chamber was a long dining table. On the walls near the head were several video screens. The Primarch recognized them as one was a feed from Thessia and the other Sur'kesh. Well, he knew that the feeds was being broadcast from the respective planets, due to the screen had labeled each feed.

"Please, have a seat. I will bring you a selection of our finest drinks to choose from shortly." The waiter nodded and left.

Quenion fell into the chair at the head of the table, his mind trying to work out what the hell was going on.

"Galus?" A voice startled him, making him jump slightly. When he turned to the video feeds, he saw Matriarch Tesyxes Matois on one feed and Dalatrass Fegant Deyoro on the other.

"What the hell is going on here?" Demanded Quenion.

"All the Geth keep telling me is that we must wait for the rest of our party." Dalatrass Deyoro informed them.

"Then, perhaps, we wait?" asked Matois. "Like you, I had to know what was being done to my people, only to find this confusing sight? A freaking feast? What the flying fuck is going on here?

Three hours later, the table was mostly full. A half dozen officers and advisers were held back. The table was just settling with their latest drinks when a Geth appeared on the far view screen.

"Quenion-Primarch. Your missing attendants have been poisoned by an outside force. This poison has been a slow acting one that has existed since well before the Turians were still in the sky, flying under their own wings."

The Geth looked directly at the Primarch. "We have left information on how to detect this poison. Those that have been affected are in a protected quarantine station outside the Turian Home system. Exact location and approach procedures have been left inside your computers. You cannot arrive at the location using the relay network. The station is many light years from the closest relay. Visitors will surrender all items, including clothing, to avoid further contamination, to be returned on exit. Clothing will be provided as needed.

"The Geth have been attempting a cure, however, progress has been extremely slow. In an effort to prevent more corruption, we have also removed all items that had caused the poison of the mind. Many Turians will lament of the loss of family heirlooms but these items caused more harm than good."

The video image stilled for a moment before speaking again. "The Geth will depart all home systems in twelve hours." The video went out.

" _Spirits_!" swore Quenion, his mind trying to process what exactly happened.

 **May 31st, 2300 - Citadel, Presidium Ring**

"In today's headlines, Piares continues its strange transformation." Stated Timirn Ajaa, a female Salarian reporter. "In the wake of the Geth's month long invasion of the Council's home worlds, more oddities were discovered on Thessia's sister planet, Piares."

The screen changed behind the reporter to show a green, toxic planet. "This was Piares the day of the Geth invasion. As many know, the atmosphere of this planet was a mix of carbon dioxide and ethane."

The screen changed to show that there was clearly fewer toxic gasses, the surface color starting to look more like Thessia's own. "From what we can understand, Piares is quickly turning into a duplicate of Thessia. Planetary experts have estimated that a full transformation to complete in less than twenty years."

The reporter smiled at the camera. "The Geth started this during their visit to the Council's Home worlds. Experts are very confused as to what benefit this could have been to the race of machines."

Liara turned off the video screen, shaking her head slightly. "Janessa, with the wargames they played on the Turians, how they shut everything down. It is almost like they are trying to teach us a lesson." She frowned slightly. "I wish I knew what that lesson was."

Janessa looked at her friend and smiled at her. "Liara, perhaps Matriarch Aethyta has some ideas. You know how outspoken she is about how stagnant the galaxy is."

Liara nodded slowly. "Perhaps… I think I will send her a letter."

(1) **Sarah McLachlan Angel**


	7. Chapter 7: Only a Good Neighbor

**September 19th, 2335: Orion Space**

In his home on Shanxi, General Williams let his chair recline, the foot rest kicking out as he picked up the XCOM datapad that covered both the invisible and visible defenses. He scrolled slowly down as he sipped his coffee.

"Damn Turians won't know what hit them." He mumbled to himself.

The defenses here were impregnable. At least the sub-surface defenses were. The Orion Republic knew contact was inevitable and wanted to ensure that contact with the Citadel ended in their favor.

Relay 314 was inactive and would remain that way until the Republic was ready for it. If all projects finished on time, they expected to open the relay twelve years from now.

Williams took another drink of his coffee before changing to the unclassified datapad. This one reviewed the Quarian projects. Beyond the 'council way' of setting colonies up and slightly above standard defenses that they were building, they wanted to add a Council Dreadnaught level railgun several new defense platform.

He snorted as he remembered the briefing on the Turians. The damn fools thought that space was a video game. They clustered too tight and very rarely deviated from a zero-degree attack pattern and never expected an attack from behind the relay.

He smiled as he approved the new platforms. In space, they were going to be built above and below the relay. He also noted that there was not enough nuclear ordnance on the stations. These were not the same nukes as back in the late 20th century. These nukes provided the power for lasers.

The tests that they had run against a few mothballed Quarian ships showed that this weapon should carve up their fleets. Should make a nice surprise all around for anyone who attacked.

 **June 28th, 2338: Orion Space**

General Williams paused in his inspection of the underground shelters. They were placed one hundred meters underground and each house had an escape pod in each house that took them directly here. Once the last pod had traveled ten meters, a two-meter slab of concrete sealed the tunnel. There also was a ten-minute timer to trigger the sealing to prevent invaders following.

There were standing orders for all civilians, once the alert went out, to report to the nearest set of escape pods and hide underground to await Republic Forces. Yes, this place would protect everyone.

Every planet in the Republic had bunkers like this as a failsafe from invaders, aimed at protecting everyone from the Reapers. If the pod detected indoctrination, the pod was shunted to another secure location.

The only way out of the bunker was through the XCOM headquarters. Both sides of the door also had scanners and could only be opened if the scanner cleared the beings trying to enter or leave.

Relay planets had a much smaller XCOM presence. They were mostly there to protect the bunker. They were not quite ready to fully show off the might of the Republic in this opening move.

 **December 31st, 2338, Orion Republic, Off the Relay Network, Quarain Sector**

The Commander was undertaking a tour of outer planets of the Republic. The XCRS _Kilimanjaro_ Flagship of the Fleet was a massive ship. It rivaled the Executor in size. When you can open a portal between one location and another light years away, size becomes far less of an issue. Larger ships also can carry "Big honkin' space guns." to quote one Jack O'Neill.

The support fleet around the Flagship looked simply insane to attack as there were over three hundred support ships that protected The Commander. The fleet were mostly ships over two kilometers in length, but there were hundreds of small craft for patrols around the system.

The Commander was touring the outer planets for _The Plan_. Today, she was over the planet that used to be known as Sinclar Four. It was renamed to Gaawa by the Quarians. Home away from home so to speak.

Cisa'Caerah vas Gaawa, the Sector Commander, stood in the briefing room. The room held The Commander's senior staff and a few others.

"Good morning, Commander." Cisa said at the podium before the briefing room.

The Commander nodded at the suitless Quarian. The video screen showed a breakdown of known Relays and the status of moving the dozens of Relays out of the systems they wanted to use.

"We have moved thirty Relays so far." The screen changed to show a relay being moved out of a system. "Every Relay we have moved was inactive. As directed, we have been moving Relays from any system outside the planed network attachment at Relay Three Fourteen."

The Commander nodded. "The status of the defense platforms at Three Fourteen?"

The Quarian checked her datapad for the information. "The six platforms around that Relay are fully operational. We have planned four more to be built within the next hundred years as we feel that six is enough defense for the Council at this time." Cisa said.

The Commander nodded. "Acceptable. How many active Relays have we found outside the planned link?"

Cisa frowned slightly. "We have found six active so far. Thankfully, each system was not inhabited. We have, however, come across thirteen pre-space flight civilizations. None of them are viably really for acceptance into the Republic. There are another three we are watching as they have reached space flight, but they are not FTL capable yet. One might be playing with eezo but they are not a threat."

"Are the others warriors?" The Commander asked.

Cisa shook her head. "I would honestly suggest smothering one of them before they develop FTL. They think anyone not them is not worthy. They are a lot like the Batarians, to include enslaving the other race that is on the planet."

The Commander shook her head slightly. "We will keep an eye on them. Worst case, we could drop a few rocks on their space program."

The Quarian smiled and nodded. "Very well."

With the rest of the briefing, they merely went over some of the developing tech and fleets to use said tech. The great thing about the engineering minds of the Quarian race, they made amazing ships. They made even stronger weapons now that they had more to work with besides the trap tech.

The Quarians had thrived over the last two hundred years, growing from eighteen million to over a hundred million. Between their own ingenuity and the crowd-funded terraforming, the Commander was not surprised in the least at their progress.

"The last point, the plan for Rannoch?" Cisa asked.

The Commander frowned slightly. "The Council will not be happy with us if you appeared on Rannoch. We have been slipping thousands of Quarians for the last hundred years to relocate back to Rannoch. I think a few years after we make contact with the Council, we will remind those three assholes that the Quarians are part of the Republic."

The Quarian laughed. "Thank you, ma'am."

 **February 1st, 2340: Council Space, near the Terminus Systems**

Adhasrak Drob'kork leaned forward, his four eyes gleaming as he read a report. The Batarian gave an evil grin as he set the report down.

His eyes fell upon the old relic. It had Prothean carvings on the smooth stone. The two slabs of red stone almost floated above the table it seemed to the pirate leader. The relic called to him. He heard its call well.

He stroked the fine edge of one of the slabs, grateful that that one Asari bitch had given it to him. Stupid cow wanted him to kill that other Asari, but he just couldn't have found the time. The slab was more important than how it came into his possession.

Too long had the Batarians been oppressed by the Council. If this relic's markings were completely true, there was a new Relay out there, Relay 315. New hunting grounds called to him. He would bring back the slaves from this new Relay.

"You say that the Shadow Broker confirmed translation?" The Pirate Captain asked.

"Yes, Commodore." The Turian responded with. "He has confirmed that it is a valid relay number."

"Then send the codes to my fleet." Drob'kork said. "The next time we are in the Nubian Expanse, we can surprise the Turians."

 **April 1st, 2340: Council Space, Nubian Expanse**

Commodore Drob'kork swore in Batarian as the Turian flotilla that stumbled upon them blew up one of his ships. They had found an Asari luxury liner but this patrol had come out of nowhere.

"Send a message to the fleet, retreat. Use the new codes!" Drob'kork cried out. He smashed his hand into his chair. "Move it!" he screamed.

It was a tense few minutes as the Turians took out two more of his ships, but they made it to the Relay. "Follow us now Turian bastards." Drob'kork said with a smirk.

"Commodore, the Relay needs a minute before it will be ready." Nav told Drob'kork

"What? Relays NEVER do that." Snapped Drob'kork

"This one says it needs another thirty seconds." Nav said. The seconds ticked by as the Turian flotilla took out another ship.

The three remaining Pirate ships triggered the Relay. They were seconds too late to get away clean as a small corvette was close enough to copy the signal sent to the relay. Two minutes later, the rest of the patrol caught up to the Relay. As one, they entered.

Tibelius Narscus, was considered a very good Turian. His sense of loyalty to the Hierarchy was higher than the average Turian. Command had placed him in charge of this flotilla. He sat on the bridge of his command ship. He rested his ankle on his other knee, with his hands in front of him, touching each tip to the other hand.

He thought about what they stumbled across. They had found pirates attacking an Asari ship. In the short fight, they had blown up most of the fleet but three had escaped. They had entered a new address. His staff had told him that they had no idea where they were going. He had followed his Turian duty, however, to ensure the pirates were brought to justice.

The ship reverted to real space. Two of his ships exploded upon exiting the Relay as they slammed into debris. Collision alarms went off. "FULL STOP!" Narscus yelled. "Sensors, where the hell are we and what is going on?"

A second later, sensors voice came back with "There is several million units of debris around us. It seems that those pirates had found a relay inside an asteroid field." There was a click of manables that followed.

"What else is it, Sensors?" Tibelius asked, knowing that his officer had a thought.

"It seems that the asteroids are all moving away from the relay. Perhaps if we come back in twenty hours, we should be able to bring a larger fleet." Sensors said.

Tibelius took a breath. "Take us back Nav. We will bring the might of the Turian Navy to cleanse the galaxy of these scum."

Tibelius sat a little straighter as his craft turned to face the Relay. The rings were pulsing purple and the whole Relay was quivering like a tuning fork.

* * *

Governor Alice Clark stood on her balcony, sipping her southern iced tea. She was watching the sun set over the small city. Colonized less than fifty years ago, Ariel had grown to a nice little tourist planet. The city was built in the subtropics, drawing those who enjoyed warmth.

The door behind her slammed open, making Alice jump. Tea splashed all over her expensive blue blouse. She turned to return to her desk, where there was a napkin.

"What is it, Teddy?" She said, a touch of anger in her voice.

"Bochoria's largest moon just exploded." Teddy said.

Alice froze. "Exploded? That moon shouldn't have exploded! How the hell does a rock explode? It was a stable rock!" Her face holding a slight fear on it.

"Alice," her assistant started "All we have in orbit right now are cruise liners." He paused as he looked at his datapad. "The seventh fleet should be arriving in twenty hours for resupply and shore leave."

Alice nodded. "That is one of the eezo fleets?" She asked.

"That is correct." Teddy responded.

"Then we will wait for their report. For now, send a priority message out to the cruise liners, to recall all visitors and depart the system for their own safety. They have three hours." Alice said, expecting a trap. "Then issue alert Kappa."

Teddy nodded and made note of it. Alert Kappa was the second highest alert. It told everyone to return to their homes. Invasion probable. It also sent a coded alert to the military headquarters of the Republic. "It will be done." He said.

 **April 2nd, 2340: Orion Space**

Admiral Shenryyr was a middle-aged gentleman, a reddish goatee adorning his face. He flicked through his datapad. He pursed his lips together. Naval Headquarters had issued a Code Kappa, possible incursion in Republic Space.

His orders were to proceed at maximum military speed and to investigate why Bochoria's moon exploded. Confirmation that this was not a precursor to the Reaper invasion was urgently hoped for. Command felt that it was unlikely to be any of the Council races. Shenryyr tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck with a couple of loud pops before standing and pressing the intercom to the bridge.

"Captain bring us to full speed and continue our heading for Ariel. Code Kappa has been issued. Alert the fleet." Shenryyr said.

"Aye, Sir." Came the response from the Captain.

"Have the _Magellan_ escorted to the moon of Bochoria the moment we arrive. It _exploded_ a few hours ago. We need to know what happened to that moon." Shenryyr ordered.

The next ten hours were tense as the crews of the fleet prepared for the worse. As per standing orders, Medical personnel were cleared by several other technicians that were trained in indoctrination scanning then the techs were scanned. Next came the leadership. The command structure of every ship was scanned for indoctrination, starting at the top with the Commanding Officer of each ship. The crews were trained and prepared. They were ready as they could be for a Reaper incursion.

* * *

Admiral Sepruns Verinius stood on his bridge, the flagship of his fleet. This was the Turian fleet to be proud of. The First Fleet was in relay transit to take out those pesky pirates. Narscus did the right thing according to this Admiral. Those particular pirates opened a new Relay which was an extra cause for worry.

There might even be something worse than the Rachni on the other side. The good Admiral would not have any of that nonsense on his watch. This fleet would smash the pirates and bring them back for justice.

He started to stroll around the bridge. He looked at the Turians manning the stations and nodded as they looked at him. His hands were behind his back but more important was the small, blue sphere in his hand. This was a Prothean meditation sphere he'd picked up on his first trip to the Citadel. Unknown to him, this was a product of the Reapers. This sphere could only alter someone's view gradually as it was not large enough to fully indoctrinate someone. In this case, this reinforced the pride one should take in doing one's duty to their fullest extent.

While it was not very Turian to be at the helm area when they reverted to real space, he wanted to see this new Relay for himself. Space reverted from the blue streaks that marked Relay travel. Verinius got his first sight of the gas giant that the Republic called Bochoria. The yellow ammonia clouds mixing with methane gasses to form breathtaking shapes. He saw the rocks expanding away from the Relay.

"Status?" the good Admiral asked, eager to get started.

Several moments later, sensors reported back "Detecting multiple asteroids near the relay, they are of little threat to us. I have found the debris from the reported two Turian cruisers. Do you want to know more about the system?"

The Admiral thought for a moment. "Yes, get some probes out there. See if you can't find where those pirates are hiding."

It felt like days to Verinius but in reality, it was less than two hours when his aide came up to him and handed him a datapad.

"Sir, we have found a garden world. It is currently on the other side of the system from us. We have also detected a small space station in orbit and several cities." The aide told him

Verinius looked at the datapad, his mandibles clicking in anger. "Then we shall cleanse this world of the pirate scum."

The aide nodded "Aye, aye, sir." He saluted before leaving Verinius alone.

Verinius stormed forward to the communications officer. "Get me the fleet now." Seconds ticked by before the officer nodded to Verinius who started speaking again. "My fellow Turians, these pirates killed several hundred of our own in a cowardly attack upon our ships after they had left this Relay. These fine Turians were doing their duty to keep Council Law and to bring justice to the pirates when they were mercilessly ambushed and slain. Not content with this foul act, these pirates then did worse than try to steal Asari children.

"No, they opened a new Relay. We have found their base, on the other side of the system. We will cleanse the planet of any trace of the pirates and take this system for the Hierarchy. Move out!" he signed for the channel to be cut.

The Turian Fleet started moving for Ariel, anticipation for the coming battle ringing throughout the ships. The ships were fully ready for combat. Damage control teams were on standby, rail guns had rounds loaded in their barrels.

"Admiral!" Called out sensors "A fleet just dropped out of FTL on the far side of the system!"

"Give me a count of the pirates." Commanded the Admiral.

"Sir, we are counting twelve ships. The lead ship is five kilometers long. Four more ships are two point six kilometers long while the remaining ships are less than a kilometer." responded sensors.

"By the spirits." Mumbled the Admiral. "How much eezo must they use to move those ships?" He looked out the window for a moment. "Why would pirates even use that much eezo when they could have sold it for more? Hmmm. This doesn't add up."

"Admiral! We just received a first contact package from the other fleet!" yelled out comms. "Anti-virus packages report it is clear of any known viruses."

The Admiral stood there, tapping his finger on his leg, trying to put the puzzle together. "Sensors, now that we have cleared the asteroid field, what can you tell me about it?"

"One moment, sir." came the response. "There is enough mass to account for a moon. The rocks are moving away from the Relay, as if it was inside of a moon."

Verinius clicked his manables together. " _Spirits_!" he swore under his breath. "Tell the fleet to come to a full stop. We are not going to approach the starbase, nor the other fleet. Then send our own first contact package and work on understanding theirs."

It was a tense twenty minutes before the science officer called the Admiral over. "Sir, they sent a video with the package. Thankfully, they also included the math for the encoding algorithm, so we were able to adapt it to work with our systems."

The Admiral nodded. "That was smart of them. Play the video."

Moments later, the video started. On the screen showed an image of Earth. Below the image, clearly written in Klingon was a word that said Q'onoS. The screen changed to show a male and female human. Under them, a caption gave the name of the race: Klingons.

The video then produced the sounds for the words, speaking perfect Klingon.

"Guttural sounding, perhaps, but not that hard to speak." Nodded the Admiral. "Might be hard on the throat after a while."

The image changed to show a Sectoid. They had lost their pink skin that the Elders had used only to return to being grey skinned. Their eyes were bigger than a human's, but they had lips once more. They also had hair, but it looked more like a very bad wig. Gene therapy still had a long way to go to help that poor race. The name that was captioned in Klingon said Vulcans.

"By the Ancestors…" Verinius exclaimed, trying to understand the implications of this. "We just met another Council-like group in the Galaxy. Amazing!"

The next image showed a Viper, flashing the name Romulan still in Klingon. The image shifted again to show a bug like creature.

"Rachni!" Cried out the sensor officer. "They made friends with them? How?"

The screen flashed the name Breen under the Rachni before the Klingon word was spoken. The image then showed two holograms waving at them. Below them showed two names. The first name equated to the Artificial Intelligence that the Orion Republic developed with Hope. The Klingon words for Leeroy Jenkins (they picked it, not humans). Under the second hologram was the word DigiKlingons.

"They are mad, these Klingons!" Said Verinius, shock clear in his voice. "They use AI and they managed to tame the Rachni, or perhaps a race related to them." His manables twitched as he processed what he learned. "Let me know the moment we can talk with them." he finished before turning on his heel to walk away.

* * *

Across the system, the Orion Republic fleet waited. On the Flag Bridge sat Admiral Shenryyr. He sat with his elbows on the edge of the table he was sitting at. Between his hands was a cup of black coffee. His eyes were focused on the Turian fleet.

"When we sent the package, I did not expect this outcome, though it is intriguing." Shenryyr mumbled into his coffee.

"Yes, sir." Spoke his aide, rolling his eyes. "They have been sitting there for over an hour now. The information we have highly suggested us having a volatile first contact."

Shenryyr nodded slightly before speaking. "When they see the Rachni, they still might attempt something."

The aide nodded. "Perhaps…" he let his voice fade off in thought.

Shenryyr smiled at his aide. "Perhaps not. Analysis of the Turian psyche did show them capable of great thought, however improbable of an event it is."

The aide snorted "So even bird brains can think?"

Shenryyr smiled at his friend. "It would seem that they are capable of independent thought."

The aide nodded "Sir, we have their language translated, thanks to the archives on Mars. The Prothean that set up the information chain to Hope really helped. Why did we send a first contact package rather than contacting them directly?"

"If we had hailed them, they could have assumed we were pirates. They still might but that event is becoming more unlikely with every second that passes. Alternatively, they would learn entirely too much about our intelligence capability since we learned about them without being found in return. Besides, the bastards need to work a little, so we wait for them to think they are smarter than us by beating us to a translation." Shenryyr nodded to his aide.

The aide laughed as he shook his head. "That is true, bastards think they are better than everyone else."

Verinius stormed up to his comms officer. "It has been three hours!" He snarled.

The comm officer turned to look at his Admiral. "I am sorry, sir. There is a lot of guttural sounds in their language."

The Turian Admiral shook his head. "Can we at least tell them something? There are a lot of itchy trigger fingers on both sides."

The comms officer nodded. "I think we can tell them who we are and we come in peace."

There was a nod at that. "Do it."

The Comms officer let his fingers move over his keyboard. "Message sent."

Verinius nodded again. "Now, we see what happens."

"Sir, message from the lead Turian ship." Came the call from comms.

"Let's see what the birds chirped." Shenryyr said.

On the viewscreen came the message from the Turians, in glorious Klingon. " **We are called the Targ. Much welcome in green beans. The Targ hate you for licking our dog. There is much hope we can have sex many times with your race.** "

The bridge erupted into laughter as they read the message. "Oh, yes, they are pretty much nothing more than a vicious dog on the leash of the Asari." Said Shenryyr "Now that we know that this isn't going to turn into a shouting match, let's turn this over to the Diplomat Corps." He took a breath, nodding to himself. "Send the Turians a hello."

* * *

"Sir, we have a return message. It is audio." Called out the Turian comm officer.

The Admiral nodded. "Let's hear it."

The speakers came alive as a voice in perfect Turian. "The Orion Republic sends greetings to the Turian Hierarchy and the Council. We wish peace with your nations. We are willing to meet on neutral ground of your choosing to discuss the possible future our two cultures might have."

Verinius tapped his finger on his thigh, thinking for a moment. "Of course, they have AI. They probably had it instantly translated. They waited for us to contact them, so we were not spooked by them. This shows a measure of thoughtfulness not often seen by new races. Then again, if they are multiracial, then perhaps they are not as new as we think."

"Sir?" Asked his aide, not quite as quick as the Admiral.

Verinius placed his hand on his old friend's shoulder. "Tuvus, my old friend, I think we have found new friends.

 **April 4th, 2340: Council Space, Citadel**

The Orion Republic Ambassadors stepped out of the Orion Republic cruiser that had brought them to the Citadel. The Defense Fleet were still on edge, despite the peaceful intentions of the Republic. Fleets tended to get itchy trigger fingers when an extremely large fleet dropped in to Citadel space.

There was a very large crowd outside the docking area.

"Are you going to kill us?" "What do you eat?" "Do Klingons drink blood?" Came the shouts heard by the Ambassadors. Mark 'Bad' Hyde looked around, noticing a group of Hanar.

"Have you heard about the Enkindlers?" Shouted one Hanar.

Mark suddenly stopped, his party stopping with him. A smile broke his face before he walked to the Hanar. He bowed slightly to them.

"The Enkindlers found us as well. One called Kil'vak left us a few gifts, one included Hope. He spoke very kindly of the Hanar." Mark finished with another bow, responding in Turian, via a translator.

All the Hanar started to flash colors from pink to deep red, flashing a yellow to goldenrod, blacks of all kinds of shades, shock clear as they slowly started to sink. "This one is amazed that the Enkindler that enlightened us also visited you."

Another Hanar flashed pink and wobbled in the air, like a drunk jellyfish. "This one is also glad that the Enkindler gave your race hope."

Mark bowed once more. "We look forward to speaking with the Hanar at a later time due to prior commitments. If it weren't for us owing the Council a visit shortly, we would be pleased to expand this discussion. Good day."

"Good day blessed one!" cried the Hanar, turning to speak to his friends.

The Republic diplomats turned to look at their escorts, nodding that they were ready to continue. The tour showed off the greatness of the Citadel Council, save for one flaw that they didn't even consider. The group were approaching the lift for the Council Chambers, when a simple question was asked that undermined everything that the Council wanted to show off.

"Very impressive station." Mark said, looking at a vender selling Salarian food. "You said the Asari found this place three thousand years ago?"

The guide nodded. "Oh, yes! It is a marvel of Prothean engineering is it not?"

Mark let out a chuckle before suddenly stopping, noting at the Asari's face had gone stone cold at the laughter. "Wait, you actually think that the Protheans built this place?"

Their Asari guide puffed herself up "It is well documented that the Protheans built the Relay network."

This time Mark and his party busted into a harty belly laughter. "Gods…." Mark tried to breathe through his laughter. "You really believe, that don't you? Wow...you do." Mark smiled at his guide, wiping tears from his eyes.

"We have proof that the Protheans did not build the Relay network." Mark glanced at his Viper aide. "It seems that the Council and I have something more to talk about. Please, let us tarry not for the situation is far graver than we thought."

Their guide looked very hurt at their laughter and follow on comment, but she nodded before leading them to the lift for Council Chambers. It slowly started to rise.

"Why is this thing so slow?" Mark asked.

"We have no way to change the speed of the lift, Mr Ambassador, but who are we to question how the Protheans built this marvel of engineering?" Asked the Asari escort.

One of the aides snorted. "A smart race?" He asked. The Asari face flushed, fury in her eyes. They rode the next ten minutes without speaking. Once they arrived, the Asari showed them where to enter the chambers.

"Honorable Councilmembers, I present to you, the Orion Republic Delegation!" announced the Council herald.

The diplomatic group made up of two Humans, a Viper and a Sectoid, stepped into the room, walking to stand in front of the Council. Once they arrived at that spot, they bowed slightly as one.

"Greetings from the Orion Republic. I am Mark Hyde, this is Chandra Leahy, Valkyrie Kane, and Jane Blogs." Mark said, guestering to himself, the Human woman next to him, the Viper, then the Sectoid. "There are two other members of our Republic that did not come with us today, out of respect for the Council's laws regarding AI."

There were some gasps of horror in the assembled crowd. Tevos merely held up her hand to silence the crowd. "We do thank you for that consideration. As a young race, perhaps you do not know the dangers of AI and how they will always turn on their creators."

Mark snorted. "I am sorry, Councilmember Tevos, but we are not a young race. We have been spacefaring for well over three hundred years, with our AI standing next to us the entire time. I am confident we have worked out our problems." He finished with a smile.

Tevos nodded slightly "Very well…" She cleared her throat utterly unused to being told to fuck off like that. She smiled slightly before bowing. "The Citadel Council would like to welcome the Orion Republic."

She puffed herself up proudly before speaking the ritual welcoming of the Council. " **I vinya indóme na- nunta. Care- tien nauta ana us**." (The young will is low. Make them bound to us.)

The moment she stopped speaking, Jane dropped to her knees in pain, her hands grabbing her head. The Viper started darting her head around, while the two humans looked angry. "Council, you _**will**_ end this psychic assault, or the Republic will declare war for this unprovoked attack!" came Chandra's snarl.

The Turian Councilor, one Octabus Linius turned to face Tevos. "What the hell is going on here, Councillor?" He demanded.

Tevos looked shocked, her hands started to raise "I have no idea what is going on here. We have always used that phase since we arrived at the Citadel. It was the Prothean greeting for new races."

Blood started to drip from Jane's nose from the strain of fighting the mental assault. Mark glanced at his Sectoid friend. He picked her up in a bridal carry. "In a spirit of good will, the Orion Republic will accept that this is not an intentional attack. However, the Orion Republic will not maintain a permanent embassy on this station until you can uphold the safety of our citizens. This includes any mental assaults.

"You have had control over this station for over three thousand years. Why the hell do you not know what it can do? You claim the Protheans built the Station and Relay network, yet we have proof that they found the network, just like you did. You should know this already because you should know exactly how the machines that you use daily work!

"You claim the Quarians were evil for creating AI? You scoff at us for creating AI? We, at least, know how our machines work. You call us a young race, yet the Asari act like they just found porn, wanting to hide it from their mother. By the Gods, wake up. If you wish to speak with us, you can find us on the XCSR _Republic_. I say to you, you lose, you get _nothing_! _Good day_ , sir!"

With that, the Republican party left the chambers. The Salarian Councillor looked at Tevos "What the hell did you do?"

Tevos looked scared "I didn't do anything but welcome them to the Citadel. We have always used that phase!"

"Whatever you did, _you_ just drove a powerful empire away from us. Thanks to you, we now have to negotiate from a position of weakness. We will get to the bottom of this, Councillor!" Snarled the Salarian Councillor.

Tevos simply nodded "Very well. Council is adjourned." She said, a frown on her face.

 **Late Evening, April 4th, 2340: Council Space, Citadel, Orion Republic Vessel**

Mark stood in the ship's sickbay, next to a bed. Jane laid on it while a human woman ran diagnostic scans over the Sectoid.

"The harder she fought, the stronger the attack became." The Doctor looked up at the Ambassador, letting out a sigh. "Really messed up her brain for a while. I have placed her into a medical coma while her brain recovers."

"Tevos triggered the attack with that pass phase but I do not think she was fully aware of what would happen." Mark shook his head. "She knew that something should have happened but what, I don't think she knew the full extent of."

The Doctor simply nodded. "The rest of you do show signs of a light psychic assault. If possible, I would recommend limiting our personnel on the station."

Mark smiled slightly "That is something I already planned on recommending. I also will be recommending placing a small fleet here, to 'protect' the ambassador." As he spoke, his hands moved up to do air quotes at the world protect.

"You just want the Machina Synergy to have direct access to the Citadel." Laughed the Doctor.

"You bet your ass I want our AI here working over that station. This station is a Reaper trap. We need to know how exactly this place is a trap." Mark said.

The Doctor snorted. "That probably was always the plan."

 **April 10th, 2340: Orion Republic Space, Sol**

"How many Hanar are still applying for visas?" Asked the Prime Minister.

His aide snorted "All of them!"

The Prime Minister laughed "Gods, if we are not careful here, the Hanar will defect to us. Let's allow a hundred at a time to visit the ruins."

The aide nodded. "And I will setup the Prothean pilgrimage. Should be profitable."

 **July 3rd, 2342: Orion Republic Space, former Attican Traverse, Astror system, Romulus**

This system was one of the few that the Republic allowed to be colonized on the Relay network, extending the deception that the Republic were starting to use the Relays. Systems like this one provided trade routes to the Council.

It was a lovely, spring morning in the sprawling city New Vulcan. The city held thirty million souls. This city contained a mix of Republic races, even a few Council races. The system held a lot of civilian traffic, along with a small protection fleet.

Directly above the city, in geostationary orbit, was another city in the form of a space station, a platform that held enough defenses to make many in the Council races question what exactly the Republic had been compensating for. The structure was twenty kilometers long, twenty kilometers wide at the top and reminiscent of a cone. The starbase tapered down to a rounded point. The center spire slowly tapering towards the center as the main part of the station was ten kilometers long. It was a hive of activity as support craft and other craft buzzed around it.

Alarms started to scream in the command center of the starbase. The Commanding Officer came up to her sensors officer, her hands clasping behind her back before speaking.

"Who's attacking?" She demanded.

The sensor officer swallowed hard. "Sensor profiles matches what we know about the Collectors. They sent only two ships for some reason. The most likely reason would be overconfidence. Thankfully, we are on the other side of the system from the Relay. Two hours before they arrive."

The Commanding Officer nodded. "Issue alert Kata-Omega to command." She paused for second. "Order to all ships in the system to enter our hangar bays."

"Aye, ma'am!" came the response.

Thankfully, there had been zero friendly ships on the same side of the system as the Collectors. The Commanding Officer watched the last ship on sensors, one of the Military ships that had been gathering civilians with slower drives. These Collectors, she thought, are a strange bunch. No real data about them, just show up and trade for tech. "Why are they here? She mumbled.

"Ma'am?" Asked her Executive Officer.

She waved it off "Just thinking out loud. Once that ship is docked, execute plan Theta,"

"Aye, aye, Ma'am" Nodded the XO.

Five tense minutes later, a portal opened below the station. Engines fired from the top of the station, pushing it slowly though the psionic portal.

The two Collector ships landed outside of New Vulcan an hour and a half later. Video feeds later showed the Collectors tearing through the city. Several buildings were demolished in their searches as they ripped them apart to find any hidden locations.

The reason for their wanton destruction? Not a single being could be found. There were zero dead buried in the city either as the city buried their dead below the shelters. The moment Code Kata-Omega was issued, the city emptied as per _The Plan._

The Collectors departed twelve hours later, the city a little damaged and missing a fair bit of technology. It had been stolen to allow the Collectors to study them, learning how to overcome some of their defenses.

 **November 18th, 2346: Attican Traverse, Omega**

Aria T'Loak, Queen of Omega, lounged on the couch in her club, Afterlife. She sipped on a golden drink with soft bubbles. Her head moved back and forth slightly in time with the thump of the music that rocked her club. She closed her eyes when she noted an aide rushing up to her area.

"Did I not tell you that I was not to be disturbed?" Demanded Aria.

The aid nodded "Yes, Mistress, but the Collectors are here. They demand to speak with you."

Aria raised her eyebrow. The Collectors rarely came this deep into Omega, preferring to stick to the hangars. She shifted herself into a seated position. "Send them up."

Two minutes later, two creatures walked up to the throne. They were two meters tall, green skin, four eyes. The lead Collector wore red battle armor.

" **Aria T'Loak.** " The Collector said, his voice deep, almost electronic. " **I am Harbinger.** "

Aria tilted her head. "Harbinger."

" **We wish to acquire a male** _ **and**_ **female from each of the Orion Republic races**." Harbinger stated.

"My, right to business then? Are you sure I can't offer you something to drink? Aria asked.

" **We are willing to provide one thousand tons of Element Zero, enough particle guns of Prothean make to outfit all of your security forces, along with the plans to make more. We are also offering you Prothean battleship designs and enough material to make thirty. We offer this to any race that delivers living pairs. Bonuses offered if more are captured.** " Harbinger finished.

The Queen of Omega leaned back into her seat. With that kind of firepower, she would be unstoppable. "I will pass the word along." She said nodding.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the Collector turned, walking out of the Club. Aria leaned forward to speak to her aide. "Get my staff. We have things to plan." A wicked grin across her face, greed clear in her eyes.

A few hours later, deep in Omega, someone sat at a terminal. A few keystrokes later, this person was inside the extranet, navigating to Citadel Life's homepage. A few more clicks later, a video call had started.

"Agent Arcane." said a warbled voice.

"The Collectors visited Omega today. The lead Collector said his name, Harbinger. He offered one thousand tons of eezo, Prothean Particle guns, the plans to Prothean battleships, _and_ the mats to build thirty of them. All he wanted was a male and female of every Republican race. The Omega Queen is attempting to formulate a plan to make the captures."

"This is a disturbing turn of events." came that same distorted voice. "We suspected that the Collectors would do something like this after the failure of their raids. Every colony they attempted to attack was empty of targets.

"The Batarians will learn of this soon, if they do not already. Thank you, Agent. We are watching." said the voice, ending the call.

The Agent leaned back, thinking over the turn of events. These events would have implications that would later rock the known galaxy.

 **December 25th, 2346: Batarian space, Khar'shan**

"This is an outrage!" Screamed Gherlak Gherromak, High Overseer of the Batarian Hegemony in his throne room on the holy world of Khar'shan. "Why the hell do we not yet have any Klingon slaves?"

Creko Recsoth bowed low to the leader of his race. Every so often, some psychotic madman was charismatic enough or forceful enough to ascend to that position. They never lasted too long thanks to their habits of shooting too many underlings. All he had to do until this one was replaced was to keep his head. "My lord, every race of their disgusting Republic has this sense about them. It does not matter which race gets near one of them, but they are fully aware of our agents. They have turned several thousand ambushes. Many of them were planned on the offline hardware. I personally lead the last sixteen assaults with every member of the assault force completely in the dark as the target until we were ready. There was zero chance that they knew before I attacked them."

Creko shook his head. "They were ready for the attack, somehow. It is like they read my mind with how perfect their defense had been."

The High Overseer growled "Then perhaps it is time for the full might of the Hegemony to cleanse our rightful lands of their filth. We will start with that horrid New Vulcan of theirs." He spat.

"I want every ship in the fleet to attack save for the defense fleet here. Crack that fucking planet if you have to but find them!" Gherromak bellowed, spittle flying from his lips.

The overseer pounded his fist into his chair "Bankrupt us for ships if we have to, once we have the Kingons, we will take our rightful place!"

 **February 14th, 2347: Orion Republic Space, former Attican Traverse, Astror system, Romulus**

It was a lovely Valentine's Day in New Vulcan, many in the large city trying to make the day perfect for someone else when the alarms went off. There was a single curse word that could almost be heard over the alarms as almost twenty million city cried out in frustration as one.

Unlike the last thirty attempts the Collectors had made, the Space Station over New Vulcan began to rotate itself, so the guns would find their targets easier. If the Batarians had a working brain between them, they would not come though the Relay in a cluster nor would they stay tightly clustered together. They would have attacked from outside of the system but, alas the Batarians, they flew like a video game.

Traffic within the system started the now-familiar run back to safety as the attack force advanced deeper into the system, an hour from the planet. Military forces started to undock from the station, recalling the sailors that were upon the station, several larger crafts forgoing the sailors on the planet.

"Wait…" Said Admiral Shenryyr, into his cell, with his fleet docked for shore leave, his fingers touching his forehead, fingers stroking his eyebrows. "The Batarians are attacking? _Fuck!_ Right in front of my salad, too!" he cried out, looking around the cafe he was in. He was wearing a tee shirt, shorts and flip flops. "I'll be up in thirty." He finished, standing as he hung the call up.

He noticed that the entire coffee shop already had responded to the evacuation, mostly civilians heading for the bunkers. Others were heading to another part of the city, one where armor would be provided for the XCOM forces assigned to the city for the single goal of defending the city.

Shenryyr stood on his Flag Bridge, still in his civilian clothes, his Flagship departing the station. Batarians were less than twenty minutes out, weapons range for them in fifteen. Shenryyr sat down at his table, where he would view the battle. He noted that the capital ship count was one hundred and seven. There were another three hundred ships he counted as transports.

"Launch the sex on the beach, followed by jello-shots." Came the order from the Admiral.

In space, forty missiles awoken from their deep sleep on board the First Fleet heading for the Batarians.

"Admiral," came the call from Admiral Secsochar's sensor officer on board the Batarian Flag Ship. "Forty missiles are inbound."

Secsochar started to laugh. "Missiles? At this range? So, few?! What do the pathetic slaves think that they would do to us?"

The rest of the crew started to laugh with their Admiral when there was a flash of light. Screams filled the bridge, crew complaining of their eyes.

Once the Admiral had managed to get some sort of vision, he growled "What the hell was that?"

"Sensors are down! Too much nuclear interference." Yelled the sensor officer.

The Admiral snarled "Get the _fucking_ sensors back up!"

If the Batarians had better scanners, or perhaps had a few more brain cells within them, they would have noted forty objects float away from their respective ships. These objects glowed blue for a fraction of a second as they jumped to point nine nine of lightspeed. The second was all that it took to cross the distance to the remaining Batarian ships.

During their flight, the objects opened a door as mass effect fields that lightened everything changed to no longer include the cargo within. Immediately afterwards, they came to an abrupt stop.

Out of the objects flew three hundred kilograms of finely cubed gel, smashing into forty enemy ships. The moment the devices had emptied their loads, they started back for their home ships at a slower rate of speed.

One gram at that velocity would have been enough to rip through the target ship. However, this weapon was created by XCOM with the viewpoint of there is no kill like overkill. There simply could be no defense by the Batarians. As nearly one, the targeted capital ships exploded in balls of fire as three hundred kilograms of gel that had started to spread like buckshot impacted them.

"Send the destroyer squadron in. I want the battleships _Missouri_ and _Courageous_ providing long-range fire support." He thought for a moment before speaking again. "Tell XCSR _Montgomery Scott_ to prep for rescue operations for the escape pods. Then we get to let loose the dogs of war." he said with a feral grin, his fingers making gun shapes. "I'll be Shen, you be you. Good night, Batarians." He acted like he was firing finger guns at the map as he spoke.

He patted his hands on his legs and looked around "Welp, I am going to get a cup of coffee." He said before leaving the room with his coffee mug.

 **Morning of February 15th, 2347: Council Space, Citadel**

A Republic shuttle landed on the Citadel. For reasons that confused everyone that was a part of the Citadel races, the Orion Republic refused to keep a physical embassy on the Citadel proper. Instead, they kept a cruiser in the system.

The gentleman that stepped out of the shuttle looked regal. His black hair looked perfect, his mustache had every hair in place. On his chin was a small tuft of hair. The suit he wore made Armani look like off the rack clothes.

Around him stepped two fully armored officers. Across their chest, they held green, glowing, plasma rifles. Their faces were fully covered by helmets. One suit of armor was colored a subtle shade of purple, while the other was painted black as night.

This regal man stepped into the lift that would take him to the council chambers. His two guards stepped in, turning to stop the Hanar that had been attempting to follow. The doors closed after the purple guard pressed the button for the Council. Silence reigned for the fifteen-minute ride to the Council Chambers.

The man stepped out of the lift the moment the doors opened. He noted that a Volus was giving a report to the Council regarding banking matters. He did not stop walking, interrupting the conversation.

"Inflation *krrrrk* has gone up *krrrrk* three hundred percent *krrrrk*" Spoke the Volus.

"Honorable Council Members," Called out the human that entered. "Forgive this intrusion but, as guaranteed per the terms of our Treaty, I must speak with you immediately." He finished with a slight bow. "I am Ambassador Duriual."

"We welcome the Orion Republic but what could warrant such urgency?" asked the Turian Councilor.

"At zero three hundred hours Citadel time yesterday, the Orion Republic found itself at war." Duriual stated. "The Batarian Hegemony attacked Romulus, in the Astror system."

Tevos put her hand to her forehead. She opened her mouth to speak when the Turian Councilor spoke.

"Thank you, Ambassador Duriual, for informing us. The Turian Hierarchy will pass along our intelligence regarding the Hegemony on the provision that the Republic will fully dismantle The Batarian Hegemony and destroy their government-sponsored slave rings." Almost pleased the Turian Councilor.

"The Salarian Union will send ships to help provide aid for the newly freed slaves." Stated the Salarian Councilor.

"What are you two doing? We cannot let our members go to war!" Stated Tevos.

" _ **Councilor**_!" boomed Duriual's voice, cutting everyone off. "The Orion Republic is not a signatory of your Council. Nor are the Batarians, any more due disagreements over their slavery policy. You do not dictate to us what we can and cannot do. This announcement was just a formality, a courtesy to notify you. _Good day_." He spun on his heel, storming out of the Chambers.

Tevos stood there, looking like someone had slapped her, followed by force feeding her a lemon. She opened her mouth to speak but was still too stunned that the Orion Republic dared to keep speaking like that to her.

"Session adjourned." Snapped the Turian Councilor. "Tevos, we have to talk. _Now_." he said, anger clear in his voice, his hand pointing to the side chamber. His other hand was dangerously close to his sidearm.

Tevos let out a small 'eep' noise before she nodded, turning to obey.

 **February 15th, 2347: Batarian space, Khar'shan**

The High Overseer lounged on his throne, snacking on a grape like fruit. His feet rested upon the back of an Asari. "I do hope these Klingons are a really feisty bunch. I love breaking new merchandise in." He said, digging his heels into his slave.

The chamber door opened. "Kharos! Overseer! Tell me when I can inspect the new wares!" was said jovolly by Gherromak.

Kharos Sop'nehan stopped directly in front of his lord. "My… My L..L..Lord?" his voice quivering in fear.

Gherromak slowly pulled his feet down, his slave crying out in pain as her back was dug into. "What is it?" he asked, his voice deadly.

Kharos bowed to his master. "The Orion Republic fleet has arrived."

"And this is a worry, why?" Gherromak asked, his voice very deadly. "Surely, our great fleet and other defenses are enough to defend us."

"We are defenseless...they wiped out all of our defenses in one missile shot. Transports are landing." Kharos stated.

Gherromak snarled in rage, his hand grabbing his pistol. He squeezed the trigger, ripping through his slave girl, killing her instantly. "Worthless cow." he spat upon her corpse. The High Overseer pointed his gun at Kharos.

"You have seconds left. Tell me why our forces are dead." Snarled the High Overseer.

Kharos swallowed. "They used nukes and some sort of missile. When the missiles arrived within one kilometer, our defenses just explo…" His corpse fell over, the shot echoing in the room.

"Told the fucker that he had seconds left." Said the High Overseer before walking out the room, heading for someone who could tell him what was going on. Anger was clear in his steps, causing his own guards to shy a little away from him.

All over the planet, red fire lit the sky from the number of plasma trails that fell from the sky. Upon impact, a thundering sound that accompanied dirt spaying in the air. Buildings around them shook and cracked from the impacts. As the dust settled, XCOM's own MEC forces began to step out of the crater that had been made from the impact of almost a ton of material.

Particle lances fired rapidly at any Bartarian that fired upon them. They flat out ignored any shot that did not come from the primary targets. Those who were non-Bartarians were mostly innocent in this affair. Most were slaves, stolen from their families, their masters attempting to use their slaves as a poor force multiplier.

A fair fight is something historians would never say when it came to that invasion. One notable event was on Torfan was caught on video. One lone XCOM Ranger walked down the road into the main city. This Ranger moved softly, hips swaying, her katana-looking sword flashing. Her body armor was tailored to her curves. She heard several cracks of sound just as rounds bounced off her barriers. She turned to the right, looking at an upper landing. She started to wag her finger at the shooter.

"Now, that isn't very nice." Shepard said. "Tell you what, why don't every single one of you come down here. If one of you can take this blade from my fingers and hold it to my throat, I will kneel before you, take off my helmet, to offer myself to my new master."

To show her point, she deactivated her plasma pistol, ensuring that it was biolocked to her suit before she placed it on the ground next to her right foot. "I even only will fight with my blade." Her voice sweet and sultry as she spoke, the blade lifting into the air to identify the object of her defeat.

A large Bartarian stepped out from the doorway he had been standing in. "I will fight you, tiny Klingon warrior. You are simply nothing to me, one of the Noble Caste. The Gods appointed me as one of the universe's own Masters. The Gods granted me the power to break Asari Commandos. They were much bigger and stronger than you." He smiled at Shepard. "You will be my best fuck toy."

Shepard traced a finger over her breast, right where her nipple was. "Oh, honey, I've had wet dreams that could fuck better than you. They had a bigger dick, then again, I think my clit is bigger than your dick."

He let out a scream of pure fury as he ran for Shepard, his hands darting out to strike. Shepard calmly made two flicking motions with her blade in one hand. The big man fell into three pieces.

"Anyone else want to try to come fuck this tight ass?" She called out to Bartarians around the XCOM agent. "I'll get on my hands and knees, calling you Big Daddy. All you need to do is beat little ol' me."

She started to smack her armored ass, moaning wildly "Ooohhhhh… Take me, Big Daddy! Ohhhhhh… baby, take your naughty slave." her voice came out very aroused sounding, rotating her hips with each smack.

That brought out a hundred Bartarians. "Oh baby, are you all gonna run a train on lil ol' me?" Shepard asked, her voice dipping into an innocent accent.

There were a few growls of assent as they started to crowd the tiny XCOM agent. Several cracked their necks to attempt to threaten the tiny woman. Shepard held a hand up in an attempt to talk.

"Now, now, boys, there is plenty of me to go around. Any chance we could do this proper train style? Five at a time? Sound fair to all of you?" Shepard asked, her blade already snapped out once, beheading one that came too close to her.

Shepard double snapped her fingers on her left hand, causing the sound of a freight train horn screamed into the plaza, blaring out from speakers in her suit. Those closest to her had their eardrums ruptured from the sound. Silence filled the plaza, then bad nineteen seventies porn music started to blare. Shepard's head started to bob with the music, her blade dancing in tune with the beat.

Shepard danced all over the plaza, her blade cutting through flesh that attempted to touch her. Less than a minute after she started to move, she came to a stop at the end of the plaza. Her left leg pointed out to the side, her right leg bent. She held the hilt of the sword aloft above her, the sharp tip pointing down. Blood dripped from the the edge of the blade onto the ground.

"Damn, I guess it's battery-powered fun tonight." She said to herself.

 **Morning of February 16th, 2347: Council Space, Citadel**

The very next morning found the Klingon Ambassador riding the slow lift back up to the Council Chambers.

"Inflation *krrrrk* has gone up *krrrrk* three hundred percent *krrrrk*" Spoke the Volus.

"Honorable Council Members," Called out Duriual as he entered. "Forgive this intrusion but, as guaranteed per the terms of our Treaty, I must speak with you immediately." He finished with a slight bow.

The Volus looked at Duriual "Again, *krrrrk* you interrupt the head of the *krrrrk* banking clan?"

"Ambassador Duriual." Tevos said, her voice confused "We are confused as to why you are interrupting us yet again?"

"As listed in Section VII, Relations Regarding War, paragraph 7, subsection C, the Orion Republic is required to notify the Council upon the cessation of hostilities. As of zero three hundred Council Time, the Batarian Hegemony ceased to exist. Approximately fifteen percent of the Batarians, the entire adult upper castes, priest caste, armed forces, along with most forces who took up a weapon more than a blade, were sadly killed resisting Republican forces. Thankfully, not one Orion Republic soldier sustained a wound."

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that the Batarian Hegemony surrendered to you this quickly?" Tevos asked incredulously.

Duriual shook his head. "No, Council Member Tevos. The Hegemony simply doesn't exist anymore as there are _zero_ individuals alive that held any power under their regime."

The Turian Council Member blinked. "You are telling us that, that the Orion Republic annihilated the Batarian Hegemony in less than twenty-four hours?" Shock clear in his voice.

Again, Duruial shook his head, allowing a trace of smugness into his voice. "I am not telling you that. I am telling you that the Orion Republic annihilated the Batarian Hegemony in less than twelve hours."

There were gasps from the watching crowd. "The Republic had enough forces to attack fully-developed twelve worlds at _once_?" asked Tevos, her voice full of sarcasm.

Duruial smiled, rightful arrogance on his face. "I am not telling you that, either. I am telling you that the Batarian Hegemony had _eighteen_ such worlds. Five were hidden away from the Council, they had opened several new Relays in the network near their own space. We found almost a billion slaves, all but one hundred and sixty million from Council Races. Also, the Batarian Hegemony had enslaved a new race. That is why they had more worlds than you thought."

Octabus Lincius, the Turian Councilor, turned viciously to face Tevos. "Over a thousand years, you prevented us from stopping them. How many Turians suffered because you refused to enforce the law? How many others suffered from your need to not rock the cart?" He snarled.

At the same time, retired STG agent Council Member Birum Wolsa, leveled his pistol at Tevos' forehead. "Tell us, **Ex-** Council Member Tevos, how much have they paid you over the years? Tell us how you hid it from STG?" came her cold anger

Tevos held her hands up "They didn't pay me!" She squealed in fear.

"So you are just a hypocrite." Snarled Lincius. "The Asari, and you especially, talk about how slavery is wrong, yet you condone it with your inaction! You even encouraged them!" His fist hit the podium in his anger.

Tevos shrugged slightly "It did no one any good. Asari would've died if we had tried to do anything." her hands moving to her hips, trying to show an air of authority.

"Asari did die because _you_ did nothing!" Snarled Wolsa. "You care nothing for any lives besides the Asari?"

"Well, no. The Asari are the rightful rulers of the Galaxy. We alone live long enough to know how to guide the lesser races like you." Tevos responded. "None of this would of happened if you just would of listened to me! No one would of died if you had just smothered the Republic when your Admiral had met them."

Tevos threw up her hands as she kept speaking. "Then, in the negotiations, if the Salarian negotiators had had a pair of balls, you would of killed their AI, forced them to blow up their dreadnaughts, and made them turn over all of their advanced technology. The Turians should of had a new set of client races. Bloody morons."

Tevos turned to look at Duruial "Thank you for this information. You are dismissed."

Duruial raised his eyebrow as he looked at Tevos. Wolsa moved closer to Tevos, her own hand grabbing the Asari's, pulling it behind her back.

"The Salarian Union is placing you under arrest for corruption, incompetence and malfeasance." Wolsa stated. "You have the right to remain silent. You have the right for an advocate. If you cannot afford an advocate, one will be provided."

"If you can't afford one, you will be ridiculed." Mumbled the Orion Ambasador.

Tevos tried to fight, but she only cried out in pain as her arm was pulled harder. "You can't do this to me! I **am** the _Council_!" She screamed. "I alone rule the galaxy! _**I have unlimited power**_!" Her biotics tried to flare like lightning around her. Wolsa hit her in the back of the head with the butt of the pistol. The Asari dropped like a rock, her biotics flickering and fading away.

Duruial smirked up at Lincius. "I think perhaps there are a few things loose in her brain? Maybe someone should make sure she isn't an Ardat Yakshi." He didn't think it was true but just the whisper of it would be a scandal, something to make the other Matriarchs drop her like a feral varren.

Lincius nodded. "That is something we will check for."

The wake of Tevos' actions on the Council rocked the Council Races. The Salarian and Turian Councilors issued a temporary suspension of the Asari as a ruling member of the Council until Tevos' replacement was confirmed. When the Asari Republics attempted to protest, they simply replayed Tevos' confession. That ended most of their complaints as they started to investigate the former Councilor. There were rumbles from various quarters that they should have done that centuries earlier since she was their responsibility.

The Citadel Council conducted their own review of the Asari's voting history. What the remaining Councilors found simply horrified them. It quickly became apparent that the Asari, at least under Tevos, did nothing but further their interests, manipulating everything to make it appear that the other Councillors had the original ideas that furthered the Asari's own.

"How did we miss this in STG?" asked Wolsa, clearly upset that she had not seen it before.

Lincius shook his head softly. "Because they made us think that we were equals. We became blind. What else have we missed?"

Wolsa leaned back in her chair. "We made so many mistakes. The Genophage was necessary, at the time. The Asari convinced the Salarian Union that we did not need to do anything about the Krogan birth rates." She made a snorting sound. "Looking back at something a Klingon said to me, she said something about how every Salarian would feel if less than one thousandths of a percent of our race lived past their first breaths. This got me thinking"

The Salarian shivered slightly. "That is what we have done to the Krogans. If the Geth had not destroyed the Shroud, I would now demand that the STG change the Genophage to reduce Krogan birth rate instead of simply killing most of their kind."

Lincius sighed. "We were blind. The Volus should have a seat on the council, or at least becoming an independent nation at this point. They do run our entire economy after all." He let out a growl of frustration.

The Turian Councilor looked at his Salarain counterpart "Then, thanks to the Asari, we condemned the Quarians. Fuck, Birum, they were the only other dextro species on the Citadel. Why the hell did we not help them?" He shook his head. "Also, it makes no strategic sense to leave the Geth in the Veil without any monitoring, letting them build up their own forces while we did nothing."

Wolsa nodded to Lincius "The Asari pushed for simply killing Krogan children. STG found records of the initial Genophage, showed originally that we reduced the birthrate of the Krogan." She shook her head slightly. "I do not know why we changed things to what they are now."

Wolsa sipped her caf before picking up a datapad. "STG also received a report from the Geth during the OR invasion of Batarian space. STG has confirmed that the Asari are hiding a Prothean beacon. There is also a Prothean VI contained within the beacon."

Lincius spat out a curse. "Damn Asari, they demanded all Prothean artifacts to be made public only to hide their own. _Spirits,_ the Asari wanted to know all things Prothean so they could release Prothean tech before anyone else could."

Wolsa shook her head "We can't trust the Asari any longer. They have used their position not for the betterment of the Council but as a Dictator."

Lincius looked reflective for a long moment before speaking. "The public will revolt if we remove the Asari from the Council." He nodded to himself. "We can mitigate the damage by the Asari by adding members to the Council. I suggest we offer the Volus and the Elcor positions among us."

Wolsa nodded "That would be acceptable. I will draft letters to their Governments."

Lincius let out a woeful sigh before speaking. "I will draft the letter to the Asari about these additions. I will let them know in no uncertain terms that they will be accepting this! We now know their agenda and we will not just fall in line anymore."

 **June 9th, 2347: Council Space, Citadel**

There had been a huge media buzz for the last month. The Asari Republics had retired Tevos, rumors being bantered about that it was more of a forceful retirement than a voluntary one. This resulted in appointing someone new for the first time in almost three hundred years. In addition, there were rumors that the Council was growing.

There had been huge renovations in the slums of the Citadel. Many residents were evicted but, in a strange turn of events, any that had been displaced were granted quarters within the middle-class areas, fully paid by the Council itself.

Construction crews worked day and night since early March. Whenever a Keeper attempted to investigate the area, it was politely directed elsewhere. This morning was the unveiling of the work. Councilmembers Wolsa and Lincius stood in front of a rope that blocked off access to the remodeled area.

"Thank you for joining the Council for this momentous occasion! Before we begin, the Council is freezing all rents, reverting to prices as of February fourteenth." said Wolsa with a slight bow.

"For the last two months, workers have been hard at work completing a new direction of the Council." Lincius said regally. "We present to you the new heart of the Council. From henceforth, all Council meetings will be conducted from within these chambers."

A roar of questions came from the assembled reporters that took a few moments to calm down enough for them to hear Lincius call out "Please hold all questions until the end!"

Wolsa spoke up "We felt that that the old location the Council simply made us appear apart from each of you."

Lincius drew his head up. "Will Jiklu Kol of the Vol Protectorate, Cyluna of the Courts of Dekuuna, and Kinavase D'linatora of the Asari Republics please join us on this stage?"

The Reporters went off, flashes of omni-tools as photos were taken of a short Volus, the large rumble of an Elcor, and a very young-looking Asari came up to the stage. Standing at the front of the stage stood Octabus Lincius. On his right was Birum Wolsa. On his left the Volus came to a stop. Behind him stood the Asari but behind Wolsa the Elcor ended his walk.

With a slight bow Lincius spoke "I present to you the new Citadel Council."

A pin being dropped could have been heard for the briefest of seconds before every single reporter screamed out questions for five minutes. The five stood there, not answering a single question until the reporters finally realized that they had found a clue in this. They were not done dropping bombshells.

Lincius nodded finely "Thank you for your enthusiasm, however, a full statement will be issued after this conference. In addition to expanding the Council, all five of us will move our residences and offices into the Wards. The Council will continue renovations of the so-called slums until they match the quality of life that the middle class enjoys daily."

After a breath, the Turian Councilor continued to speak "There will be no price increase to all rents for the next ten years. Post this time frame, rent may not change beyond the percentage of median income of the area, fairly marked in an equal grid pattern. This will be evaluated yearly, or if someone of higher income moves into a lower income area."

"Without further ado, I present to you the Citadel Council." He finished, bowing to the audience. The other four bowed at the same time, with the Elcor simply bowing his head.

With that, the five stepped aside, sheets falling aside to reveal the remodeled area. From the position of the reporters, they could see that there was a round building where all the races' flags flew. Slightly higher were the five Council members flags but, at a position above all the races' flags, hung the Citadel's own.

Branching out from the center were new buildings that dwarfed the new center building. The reporters noted that there were some commercial buildings mixed in with the residential. The gathered reporters rushed forward to examine the new area.

 **August 27th, 2348: Council Space, Citadel, New Council Chambers**

Lincius entered the Council chambers, taking in the layout. No longer did the Council lord themselves over the supplicants to the Council, but Councilors and visitors stood level to each other. He nodded to the other four Councilmembers.

The Turian Councilor stepped up to the podium at the front of the other four. They were shaped like a pyramid, with the Councilors taking yearly rotations to become the Speaker of the group. This speaker held no voting power unless it was to break a tie, trading voting power for influence.

Today, the Council had called the reporters of the galaxy for a great announcement. The Turian Councilor banged his gavel three times.

"The Council is now in Session." Lincius spoke after the reporters stopped their background discussions.

"Today's session will be short. We only have one announcement regarding Council policies." Stated Lincius. "Too long, we have hidden behind fear of unleashing a new Rachni threat to the galaxy. What the Orion Republic has shown us, that the Rachni might have been friendly if we had reacted with more openness and perhaps verified what the Asari told the Salarians, has set the precedent for this development."

The Turian shook his head slightly. "The galaxy has become better armed since those days. The Citadel races have a powerful friend in the Orion Republic. We have also started negotiations with the Geth regarding today's announcement."

Lincius held up his hand to stop the questions. "Next week, the Turian fleet will be opening Relay three fourteen. The fleet will be backed by a Orion Republic Battlegroup in case there is something that poses a threat to the Galaxy. The Geth have tentatively agreed to aid in the case of a worst-case scenario of hostilities found.

"We shall no longer let ourselves be ruled by our fears."

 **September 30th, 2348: Council Space, Relay 314**

The might of the First Turian Fleet floated outside of Relay three fourteen, protecting the small science vessels that flitted around the long dormant Relay. The fleet had been on station for the last two weeks.

Today was the planned day to activate the Relay. The plan was to send a small science vessel through first. They had two hours to return or otherwise the full Turian fleet would be follow.

Jesarth Yuua stood on the bridge of the Salarain Research Vessel, _Kilara_ looking at the Relay. She glanced back to her helmsperson, one of the few Asari on this mission.

"When will the Relay be fully active?" Yuua asked.

"We estimate that it will be ready in three minutes." came the response.

Time slowly progressed, tension rife within the crew. They were going into the unknown, something that Salarians truly had not known since they met the Rachni.

"Relay reports ready." Reported the helmsman.

Yuua nodded. "Send us through the Relay."

Thirty seconds later, the science ship was launched into FTL. Time ticked by, each crew member felt their hearts hammering in their respective chests. Each wondered what exactly would they find on the other side. As sudden as the jump was, it ended.

"Report!" Demanded Yuua "Where are we?"

"Ma'am, we are detecting six extremely large stations covered with what looks like Mass Drivers." called out sensors.

"Let's send the first…" Yuua was cut off by a call from comms.

"Doctor! We are being hailed, on Council frequencies." was the call.

Yuua blinked a few times. "Unexpected. Answer the call."

"Unidentified Council ship! This is Orion Republic space. State your point of origin!" called out the radio.

"This is Doctor Jesarth Yuua on board the _Kilara_. I am leading the project that activated Relay three fourteen." She responded. "Sending confirmation codes."

"Acknowledged. Codes authenticated. Welcome to Shanxi system." The radio called out.

"Thank you, Shanxi Control. We need to return to let the Turians know that there is nothing to worry about. _Kilara_ out." Yuua finished.

She let out a breath of relief. "Take us back." She commanded. This Relay was safe but what about next time? She wondered as she watched the streaks of Relay travel.

 **Afternoon June 18th, 2349: Attican Traverse, Omega**

The Queen of Omega looked at the Collector in front of her. She kept her face blank as she walked over to him in the Cargo bay.

"Harbinger." Aria stated.

" **I am Harbinger**." Responded the Collector.

Aria smiled "I have completed your bargain. I have captured males and females of each of the Republic races." She gestured to twelve stasis pods. "We even captured a few extras for you. Blood samples have been placed next to the viewports."

The other Collectors moved to inspect the pods, taking the blood back to their ship. Five minutes later, they came back out to escort the captured members of the Orion Republic to the Collector's ship.

"Wait, before you can take them, I want to see my payment." Demanded the Queen of Omega.

Harbinger started to turn away before he handed her a datapad. " **The blueprints we promised you are here. We will deliver you9r physical goods here.** "

Aria shook her head in disagreement. "Honey, if you drop it off here, the rats will cart it off in less than an hour. Drop it off in the Vlioc system. I have a shipyard there."

" **Very well** , **the remaining compensation will be delivered tomorrow.** " Stated Harbinger before walking into his ship.

Aria let out a small giggle. She truly just became a Queen, now with more power to back up her rule. All she needed to find was trustworthy crews for her new fleet. Thankfully, she knew exactly who to speak to.

Aria watched the Collectors leave her station almost as quickly as they had arrived. Minutes later, they were through the Omega Four Relay.

"How did you get them?" Asked a Turian next to her. "No one has ever caught them unaware."

Aria smiled as she looked at her trusted aide. "You above all should know I don't tell anyone everything. I have agents everywhere. Now, I need a drink. Becoming filthy rich, well, even more filthy rich makes a girl thirsty!" Then she'd go down to her club and pick out a Maiden or two for some fun.

 **January 1st, 2350: In Dark Space, between Star Systems**

The great cuttlefish-like creature twitched its front appendages, coming back out of the light hibernation it had been in. With a mental sigh, he reached out to tap one of the strands of communication that the Relays used to gather information about those who traveled with the Relays.

 _ **Ah, yes, there we are. The Klingons made contact. Most strange, I expected them to use the term human. Organics are a strange thing… What do we have here? What the flying fuck?**_ Wondered the creature.

 _ **They had a peaceful contact? The Geth are actively attacking Organics but providing no harm to them? Breaking the path by moving beyond Mass Effect fields? By the First Reaper, these are variables that we did not consider. They are at least a tier four race now. Still, should only require a minimal effort to contain them.**_

 _ **By the First Reaper! What the hell is Harbinger doing by offering so much Tech to the masses? All for taking some samples of the Klingons? What is his plan there? Surely, they had enough samples not to warrant the use of that plan.**_

 _ **Still, I need more information. Perhaps it is time, no, it**_ **is** _ **time to make my herald. That Asari that contacted me two hundred years ago, I can still feel her pathetic mind linked to my own. Yes, she will do nicely. The time for the harvest is almost upon us.**_ Thought the creature before he started moving from his long rest.

 **A/N: Apparently Word didn't like the import to odt formatting. None of my line breaks made it in the first upload. Edited 9-7-18**


	8. Chapter 8: First Contact

**December 7th, 2356: Terminus Systems, Hourglass Nebula**

The Turian Navy's Fourth Patrol Fleet was docked with the eezo station near the primary relay for this cluster. Most of the fleet had already refueled with just a few remaining support craft left.

Aulpius Mellius sat in the Admiral's chair on his bridge. His legs were crossed but he was clearly fidgety. " _Spirits_ , I feel like we have thousands of eyes upon us." He mumbled.

"Sensors, give me a ping of the system." came the order from Mellius.

Moments later, sensors called out "Nothing in the system."

Mellius glanced around. "My gut says something is…" He looked at the sensor display. He thought that he could just make out something. His eyes narrowed. "Scan for gravimetric anomalies. Scan for any ion trails..."

"Sir, it will take a few minutes to reconfigure the sensors across the fleet." came the response.

"I know, do it anyway." Mellius commanded.

A tense few minutes passed as the tech followed his orders. "Sir, sending a grav pulse out now… Detecting our ion trails… Sir! We are detecting several hundred depressions... Thousands of missiles just appeared!" Cried out sensors.

"What!? Damn pirates!" Cried Mellius "Evasive maneuvers! All hands to battlestations! Drop the log drone!"

The Turian fleet burst into a hive of activity the moment the missiles were detected. For the smaller ships, several dozen missiles slammed into the hulls, Guardian lasers becoming useless as their sensors failed to detect the lower heat emissioned missiles.

The larger ships fared slightly better, blue barriers lighting up in response to each strike. The attacking force had surprise on their side in more ways than one. The Turian fleet fell to the volume of missiles. The missiles also impacted the fuel depot, causing the eezo within to detonate.

The shockwave slammed into the Admiral's flagship. On top of the missiles impacting their barriers, the shock of the eezo explosion was too much. The concussive blast tore through the ship like it was butter.

A few minutes later, the Relay lit up in departure but there was no one left alive in the system to report what happened. Even the log drone had been taken by the attackers.

 **Early Morning December 9th, 2356: Council Space, Turian Command**

The last twenty-four hours had been nerve racking for Turian High Command. An entire fleet had gone missing in the Terminus systems. These things simply didn't happen to them. Other races, primitives, might lose a fleet or two but never the Turians.

Galus Quenion entered the Battle Center, a place that Turian High Command could control a war from.

"Primarch!" Came a shout, the room turning to salute their leader

"At ease." Galus said dryly. "Any idea where the Fourth Fleet is?"

Admiral Votus Protacius clicked his mandibles together. "Sir, the Third Fleet entered their last known system thirty minutes ago. We should have a report shortly."

The Primarch nodded slowly. He walked over to the holo display, showing the galaxy map. There were two markers on the map at the Hourglass Nebula. One flashed blue for lost, while the Third Fleet showed green.

Another thirty minutes later, a scout craft exited the relay in Trebia System, heading directly for Palaven.

"Get me that scout craft! It's from the Third Fleet" Protacius called out.

"Comms established." Came a call from the side of the room.

"This is Admiral Votus Protacius. Identify yourself!" the Turian called out.

The communication array came to life. "This is Flight Officer Pobus Vitagius, assigned to the Third Fleet … My crew and I are the survivors of a brutal attack. We were ordered to hold at the Relay, in case there was a problem in the system."

Vitagius's voice cracked, clearly upset as he gave his report. "As the fleet approached the debris we discovered in the system, thousands of missiles appeared on sensors. The fleet's GARDIAN lasers tried to shoot them down but they had a hard time getting a target lock. Admiral Indamus ordered the fleet to retreat but the fleet never had the chance. We escaped through the Relay the moment we detected missiles targeting us."

Protacius put his hand to his forehead. " _Spirits preserve us._ " He mumbled before looking at the Primarch.

Galus drew himself up. "We are now at war with the race that holds the Hourglass Nebula." The Primarch glanced around the room. "I will issue an official declaration of war within the hour. Votus, contact the Klingons. See if they will share their sensor specifications, as they are far more sensitive than our own."

The Primarch looked around the room, looking each of his officers in the eyes. "Make no mistake, we will make them pay for what they have done to us." He said, one fist hitting his other palm. "Turian vengeance will be swift."

 **Mid Day December 9th, 2356: Council Space, Citadel, Council Chambers**

Octabus Lincius stared at the report in his hands. The Turian Hierarchy had declared war. On whom, they had no idea but the entire Turian race was to gear themselves for war. On top of that, they had to try to barter with the Klingons. That's a bunch that the Krogans would love. STG had issued warnings that the Krogan Independent League had plans to defect to the Klingons. But that was another issue for another day.

Collecting himself, he issued a request for the Klingon Ambassador to join them this evening for an emergency council meeting. On their designated day of rest, no less. This will not go over very well with the rest of them. Lincius cringed at the thought of what the Asari would do. No matter, there was work to be done.

That evening, after dinner, the Citadel Council met. Thankfully, this year's speaker was the Salarian Union. Birum Wolsa brought the council to order.

"Councilmember Lincius, you requested the council to assemble regarding a matter of great importance. I see Ambassador Duriual is here as well." Wolsa said, looking at the Klingon Male.

Duriual tilted his head in greeting. Lincius took a calming breath before speaking.

"Honored Councilmembers, thank you for taking the time out of your day of rest. The Turian Hierarchy welcomes the Orion Republic Ambassador. As of today, at zero nine hundred hours, the Turian Hierarchy declared a formal state of war."

There were gasps that filled the chamber, followed by whispers. Wolsa banged a steel ball on to a rock to get everyone's attention. "Silence while the Turian Councilor has the floor."

Lincius nodded to Wolsa in thanks. "The Third and Fourth Fleets were destroyed by an unknown enemy in the Hourglass Nebula. Sensors only show the heat bloom from their missiles seconds before impact. We are at a loss as to the enemy's identity. However, due to the volume of missiles, we can safely assume that it is not one of the known races. The Hierarchy will send sensor data to the Council races and the Orion Republic."

The Turian Councillor looked at Duriual. "Honored Ambassador, the Turian Hierarchy formally requests a formal trade for information on how to tune our sensors so that we may identify our attackers."

Duriual tilted his head to the Council. "I will discuss this with my superiors, as I am sure you will understand, but I do not see an issue with this. Anything that can take out a Turian Fleet, much less two, is a grave concern for the galaxy."

Kinavase D'linatora, the Asari Republics' appointee to appease concerns after Matriarch Tevos' disgrace, frowned. "I am sorry to correct you, Mr. Ambassador, but I fail to see how the Turian Hierarchy going to war affects the Asari Republic. Our borders are secure."

It clearly took a lot of self-control from the Orion Republic Ambassador not to pull his pistol out and shoot the Asari. However, it was Cyluna, the Elcor Councilmember that spoke up.

"With suppressed rage: Are all Asari as idiotic and childish as you?" Cyluna said.

"Condescending: The Geth clearly showed the Galaxy that no planet is truly safe from attack. With pleasure: The Courts of Dekuuna move for the Council to join the Turian Hierarchy in a state of war." Said the Elcor as he shifted, body clearly still upset.

"The Vol Protectorate *kzzt* agrees with the *kzzt* honored Councillor, we move *kzzt* for war." Jiklu Kol said.

D'linatora frowned. "But war is never the answer." She said softly.

"In this case, the Turians were attacked. Are you telling the galaxy, Councillor D'linatora, that any race shouldn't defend ourselves?" Duriual asked.

The Asari councilor opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head. "The Asari Republics vote to go to war." She said, pulling herself up high.

"The Salarian Union votes in favor of war. Now, to figure out who we are fighting." Sighed Wolsa, his eyes narrowing in frustration as he spoke.

"Ambassador Duriual, I would like to formally request support from the Orion Republic due to the nature of this threat." Wolsa said, his head held proud.

Duriual nodded. "I will speak to my home government prior to committing to this. I was not expecting a declaration of war this evening. However, I do not expect that the answer will be no."

The Salarian Councillor tilted her head slightly. "Thank you, Ambassador."

Duriual took that as the end of the meeting, turning sharply to depart.

 **Mid Day December 9th, 2356: Terminus Systems, Omega, Afterlife**

Aria was enjoying her evening. It was hard work running a criminal space station damnit! A girl needs to relax or she'll go crazy was her motto in the evenings. She relaxed into her soft chair, a drink in her hand. Her head moved slightly to the thumping of the music.

One of her aides appeared. "Aria!" He called out. "There is a fleet approaching Omega."

Aria frowned. "How big of a fleet?"

The aide shook his head. "It's hard to get a count. It's like the fleet is slowly cloaking themselves."

Aria sat up shaking her head. As she got up, she pressed one button on her Omni-Tool. "Let's go." She said.

The two of them left Afterlife for the control room of Omega. Once she entered, her eyes fell upon the threat board. One ship disappeared but then was quickly marked with a blue marker that said unknown location.

"Hail them." Aria commanded. It would be possible that they wouldn't understand her but if there was a fleet that large attacking, one would expect the attackers to do a little homework, which would include how to talk to their targets. It would cost her nothing to try.

The moment the channel was open, she spoke again. "This is Aria T'loak, Queen of Omega. This is a trading center and we wish no quarrel with you. We would welcome open trade with your race."

A voice came across the connect that made Aria's hair stand up, every hair. " _You are weak creatures. You will be food for my kin_." The connection was cut.

"Issue an attack alert!" Called out Aria. Alarms started seconds later. "Form up the defensive fleets. They are not getting to this station." She growled out.

On the surface of Omega, rail guns lifted from their inactive positions to start firing at the smaller craft that were heading for the station. The main defensive fleet took the brunt of thousands of missiles.

"Aria! The Merc factions are moving to engage but most of the defense fleet was taken out in the first strike!" called out sensors. "They don't seem to be targeting the station beyond targeting our weapons."

Aria frowned. "They want the station intact! Prepare to repel boarders. Tell the mercs that I will pay ten thousand credits for every invader body they bring me."

"Aye!" came the response.

"Spirits!" screamed the sensor operator. "Twenty ships just appeared behind enemy lines. They register as dreadnought weight." Fear clear in the operators voice.

Aria gave a wicked smile. "Alright, fuckers, let's see how you handle _them_. Mark the new contacts as friendlies."

In space, ships that had not been seen in the galaxy for fifty thousand years opened fire on the attackers. From the Prothean Dreadnaughts, green plasma shot out from the lead battleship, impacting on the attackers barriers for a brief moment before tearing into the ship. The heat from the plasma melted the hull, exposing compartments to space. The rest of the fleet opened fire.

Another point in favor of the new Omega Defense Fleet, they appeared behind the attackers. Most ships had less protection over their drives, mostly due to the exhaust thrust that pushed ships forward. However, these attackers were smarter than most. They protected their aft a lot better than the Council races did.

Rail guns started to return fire from the rear of the attacking fleet but these shots were not as powerful due to being a smaller gun. The Fleet commander, however, quickly shifted his fleet to face the newcomers.

Thirty ships had their engines turned into slag before three quarters of the attacking fleet had completed their turn to protect the aft side of their ships. This did leave their aft open to Omega's guns. However, it was better than exposing them to the heat from Plasma. The ships that remained pointing at Omega had the rest of their fleet block the line of fire from the ODF.

"Aria!" called out someone. "We have boarders! Gozu District reports extremely large creatures. Larger than Krogan!"

Aria came over to the comms officer. "Show me." Seconds later, a live feed of the area made several in the control room throw up from the carnage.

The screen showed several creatures. Behind them, the creatures were running on all fours. The camera, however, showed three eating bits of Salarian and Turian. The one eating the Turian had some foam around his mouth.

Each of the creatures had face paint marking them, a triangular mouth., four eyes and horns that pointed backwards. Their legs were shaped like a cat's rear legs. Aria watched in horror as one ripped a Krogan in half with just its hands. It may have struggled a little but clearly wasn't that hard.

"Whatever these things are, we can't let any more on board. Send Blood Pack to assist. If they bitch, give them whatever payment they bloody want. We have to stop them." Aria said, anger clear in her voice.

She turned to check the battle outside the station. That seemed to be going more in her favor. Clearly, the Prothean ships were built for battle. Hell, their sensors were a hundred times better than the Salarians.

Aria let herself smile as a plasma bolt impacted something that her sensors did not know about. It was a smaller craft but, with the front exposed to vacuum, it would not be long before it was destroyed, which happened with a follow on blast.

The Queen of Omega pursed her lips in thought. Making that deal with the Collectors really paid off. Hell, making that other deal was even better. It was worth every bit of trade that her station provided them.

Aria frowned as the attacking craft started to focus their missiles on one of her dreadnaughts. Her fleet had the advantage, being spread out across space made it harder for the attackers to focus fire.

The crime Queen frowned at the map of the battle. She hit a comm button. "Send in the rest. Come in at fifteen degree angle. They are making a push for Omega. Issue alert Cowl."

"Yes, ma'am!" called out comms.

 **Late Afternoon December 9th, 2356: Council Space, Citadel, Orion Republic Ambassador Flagship**

Duriual let out a long sigh as he pressed send on the report on the declaration of war by the Council, to include their request for at least a _Los Angeles_ -class scout to be attached to the major fleets of the Council.

Slowly, he picked up his coffee. Just as the cup reached his lips, the lights turned red and alarms started to blare. Duriual jumped, spilling coffee all over himself.

"God dammit!" Duriual snarled. "Did they _have_ to use the Star Trek red alert sounds?!"

He grabbed a towel on his way out of his quarters to visit the bridge. Something strange was going on as the fleet only went to this alert in training in Council Space. The Republic had not used the alert in earnest since they took out the slavers. The Dwarven race that they had found was quite the surprise but, over the last few years, they had slowly restored their old worlds.

The bridge was rife with activities as Duriual entered. "Admiral?" He asked.

Admiral Hackett turned to look at the man who entered.

"Mr. Ambassador, now is not exactly a good time for us to chat. A hundred ships entered the nebula via an unknown method of FTL. They are outside our firing range." Hackett said, turning to his staff. "Comms, tell the Council of…" He was cut off by a cry by one of his staff.

"Sir! The Relay is active! Detecting ships exiting the Relay! They match the… shit! The unknowns are moving for the Citadel." Came the call from sensors. "The unknowns from the Relay are launching missiles at the Destiny Ascension!"

"Estimated effectiveness of Sex on the Beach?" Hackett called out. "Damn, I wish the eggheads would name them something else." He mumbled under his breath. "It's so unprofessional to call for that in a battle."

"They are packed a little close but I don't think we will get more than one for one." Weapons called out. "The ones coming from the Relay are most vulnerable."

"Sir! Thousands of missiles have been launched!" Sensors called out.

"Intercept as many as we can!" Hackett called out. "Tell the _Lich King_ to open fire on the ships exiting the Relay! Have the _Hellhound_ Carrier launch its fighters to provide cover. Tell the Council that we are sending the _Lancelot_ , _Percival_ , and _Merlin_ to escort the Destiny Ascension to the Relay."

"Message sent." Comms said.

"The Ascension just exploded!" Sensors called out.

"Admiral, anything we can do to save the Council?" Duriual asked.

Hackett frowned before nodding. "We'll have to abandon the Relay."

Duriual took a breath before slowly letting it out. "Save who we can. From what I can see, we are not gaining control of the Relay."

Hackett nodded. "Captain! Full speed to the Citadel. Comms, tell the Council to meet us at the Turian Docks. Get a docking number."

"They are closing the arms!" Sensors called out.

"The Council agrees and will meet us at Docking port three. They will hold that arm extended." Comms called out.

Hackett nodded. "Tell all shuttles to dock with us! They have until we retrieve the Council to get on board. While we can keep these…" The ship rocked from missiles impacting the shields. "Idiots from doing too much damage, we can't hold out forever. Tell the _California_ to pick up the Council, we will provide cover!"

"Aye!" Called out Comms.

Duriual pressed a button. "Machina Synergy, deployment authorized on the Citadel. Verification _Kappa Delta Kappa Niner Whiskey Foxtrot Tango shenBueno shenBueno shenBueno shenBueno._ " He said the code in English vice the normal Klingon, finishing the end of the code almost like a rap.

The console chirped before displaying _FOUR DEPLOYED_. Duruial nodded.

"Ambassador?" Hackett asked.

"Steven, you had to know that we had contingencies in place if we ever had to abandon this position." Duruial added with a smile. "Not like the Council can tell us no as everyone is abandoning this system."

"About damn time." Hackett smiled back before turning to the battle. "How long before the _California_ picks up the Council?"

"Five minutes!" Sensors called out. "The _California_ has sent several shuttles down to pick them up to save docking time. They are physically blocking the docking area to protect them."

Hackett shook his head as more Turian ships blinked out from the map. "I don't know if we have five minutes." He poked at one of the smaller ships in the fleet. " _King Pin,_ retreat!"

He watched the ship turn to its escape vector, a portal opening in front of it. As it started to move through the portal, dozens of missiles impacted it in the aft. Its engines exploded seconds after the shields failed. That set off a chain reaction taking the rest of the ship with it.

"All ships! Evacuate the area if your shields reach twenty five percent!" Hackett ordered. "I don't want to lose any more ships!"

"Admiral, Alert Kappa?" Duriual asked.

Hackett frowned slightly. "Sadly, yes. Comms, issue alert Kappa Alpha!"

"Aye, sir! Sending all data along with it." Comms responded.

Hackett frowned as the attacking ships were not being targeted by the Council fleets. "Sensors! Share all targeting data with the Citadel fleet. The Council ships can't see them as their thermals are extremely low. They have to have one hell of a lot of thermal sinks to get their heat down to that degree."

"Aye!" Called out Sensors.

"The _California_ reports the Council is on board. The Citadel is reporting that they are finishing the closing of the arms." Comms called out.

"All ships, retreat! Advise the Council fleets to retreat as well! We can't stay here and slug this out with them and their fleets simply cannot fight back without us." Hackett called out.

"Admiral Votus Protacius confirms and will be retreating with us." Comms responded.

Hackett leaned over the rail to look at the ship's Captain. "Captain Lang! Can the Council use our Psi Portals?"

Lang frowned. "I have no idea, sir! I'll find out!"

Hackett nodded as the Captain walked over to his Engineering Officer for a few seconds before turning to look at Hackett. The Captain's thumbs went up. Hackett turned to his Comm's officer.

"Tell the Council fleets that we will cover their escape through our portals." Hackett ordered.

The Captain walked back to the Admiral. "Engineering needs three minutes to configure the portals for the size and for the Council ships."

" **All Psionics report to Engineering!** " The call went out over the ship wide intercom.

Hackett frowned as he looked over the battle map, trying to see the best method to fight it out for a few minutes to let as many ships escape. "Hastings, is it possible to use the jello-shots?"

The AI popped up on the battle map. He was dressed in a Orion Republic uniform. His collar showed the rank of Lieutenant. The image walked around the map partly before looking at the Admiral.

"Possibly. The enemy is moving erratically on the outer lines however they do not have full maneuverability around the Relay. Additionally, they will be constrained when they come to the portals." Hastings said.

"Weapons free with Sex on the Beach followed by jello-shots." Hackett said softly as another Orion Republic corvette exploded.

Hastings walked over to a small console on the map. He entered a few commands. Thirty seconds later, Hackett noted the enemy was reduced by sixty seven ships.

"Gel and nuclear ordinances have been expended." Hastings said. "Three gel shots missed while the Relay fleet should be blind for the next thirty seconds."

"How far is the Turian fleet?" Hackett asked.

Sensors turned to look at Hackett. "The Citadel fleet is down fifty three percent but they are at a full burn for us. They should be here in ninety seconds."

Hackett's eyes darted over the map. "ETA for portals?"

"Two minutes!" Operations called.

"Those shots bought us a minute tops." Hackett said.

"The _Cairo_ reports seventeen percent on their shields. Evacuating!" Comms called out.

Hackett gripped the table as the ship rocked from a several impacts. The lights flickered slightly.

"Shields down to forty eight percent. Minor damage to the hangar deck. We cannot launch replacement fighters at the moment." Called out Operations.

"Where did that shot come from?" Hackett demanded.

Hastings typed a few commands. "Looks like they were stealth missiles launched from the outer pack. Admiral, one thing I have noted, they are attacking like predators, pack hunters in fact."

Hackett nodded. "We are likely then dealing with a race that think like that." He pursed his lips in thought. "All ships focus on the blind attackers."

"The _Iwo Jima_ has opened a portal closer to the Citadel! Shuttles are making a run for it!" called out Sensors. "Portal too small for capital ships."

Hackett's eyes darted over his map. "Have them provide cover until their shields reach ten percent. Tell the Citadel fleet that they have five minutes to get here. Anyone not here at that time is being left behind."

The Admiral hit the side of the table in his frustration as three more of the attacking ships were destroyed. "We could go toe to toe with the Council Fleet that they had here but these guys are kicking our ass. Hastings, can we deploy Machina?"

"No, Admiral. We are detecting no communication signals from the attacking craft. They are likely using laser communication." Hastings said. "I have not found any active communication port on any of the attackers."

"Focus fire on the closest ships." Hackett ordered. "Just another ninety seconds before we can leave."

The moment the command to deploy Machina Synergy came through, the combat AIs launched themselves from the XCRS _Hastings._ The Orion Republic had spent the last ten years analyzing the communication that came and left from the Reaper construct.

In the virtual world, the Republic Synthetic beings stood in front of the huge firewall that the Council deployed. It had gone through several improvements over the last ten years but as, in their amazing wisdom, AI was banned, this allowed the Republic Synthetics to find the right door and open it within milliseconds of reaching the Citadel.

Citadel Traffic Control was the weakest link due to the fact that they had the most ports open, just to handle the connecting of inbound traffic to the Citadel computers.

"Damn, this place is an amazing mix." The AI that spoke had the callsign of Asianpeep18. The structures built that represented the programs running were a mix of the first three Council Races.

"Keep moving, Petty Officer." Ordered Major Wereid.

Peep shook her head slightly before she frowned. "Odd, that building looks like its Asari make but the foundation looks damn strange."

Another AI stepped up to them, his face puzzled. "That program does nothing but look important." Phlssc said. "Wait, it's a man in the middle. It projects itself as the core of the operating system. Look at those threads." He pointed to purple and yellow lines.

"They come in and out of the building but if you look at the south east corner of the foundation, you can see the near white line. It's very hard to pick out from the background control." Phlssc said.

Major Wereid nodded, pulled out his combat knife (Representation for the reader's sake). "Tear it apart." He ordered before charging into the front door. "Leeeerrrrrroooooyyyyyy Jeeeennnnkiiiinnnnsss!" He screamed.

"Oh, for the love of…" Peep mumbled. She hated that cover name, mostly because it lead to the combat arm making a bad pun with it or a stupid battle cry. The whole trolling the Council and Reapers were just a silly plan, but sadly the Council had fallen for it. Perhaps even the Reapers had as well.

The other three Synthetics pulled their own close combat weapons and followed. What they saw as they entered was just carnage. Several Asari laid dead on the floor but their faces started to change into a race that they had no idea about.

That's when two lumbering hulks of programs came rushing into the lobby. They stood well over fifteen feet tall, had eyes all around their head and ran on all fours. They kind of looked like gorillas, if it weren't for the eye thing.

"I think we just found the Antivirus!" Phlssc commented.

Carlothecurious shook his head. "No, they would look like Salarains if it was the AV."

Wereid ducked a blow from one of the huge creatures. "Does it freaking matter? Kill them!"

With that command, unknown to the four of them at the time, the Republic declared war on the Citadel.

Wereid snapped his blade out, striking the creature's chest. Black ichor spewed out from the wound, splashing Wereid in the face. He stopped moving, his eyes glossing over as the liquid soaked into his skin.

"Shit!" Cried Peep. "Don't let their blood touch you!" She snarled, switching from close combat to her rifle.

The representation of a M16 was not nearly as effective as the real world counterpart. What it represented was a random firing of packets to see what stuck. The Combat Knives' were more of a logic spike.

The first creature was lit up as two clips were emptied into its chest. It stood there before just laughing. It reached out with a hand and pulled down. Peep felt the gun rip from her hands before chains appeared, pulling her to the ground. She tried to let out a scream but she had no mouth as the creature cut off all outbound traffic from her.

"Puny AI. Think you know better than everyone else." Taunted the creature, in a strangely Russian accent.

Wereid stepped out from behind the two, his eyes black, dark lines streaked out from them, like if a human's veins were being poisoned.

"Absorb them." Ordered the creature.

"By your command." Wereid said, his voice holding no emotion in it.

Wereid took a step closer to Asianpeep before snapping around and lunging into the Gorilla that gave the command. "Screw you!" he snarled. His form was fully engulfed by the defense construct.

Peep found herself able to move again as the bonds holding her shattered. She dove out of the way of the second creature. She pulled out her knife, looking at the creature to find a weakness. She was quickly joined by the other two. The three of them started to play a little dance, taking turns to taunt it while the other two looked for a weakness.

Three seconds later, the Creature that Wereid shoved himself into exploded in a shower of gore. He stood there breathing hard, his hand dripping black ichor. "They are a virus, however the only way to access them is to be the tainted by the same virus." He said, his face strained.

The remaining creature let out an electronic wail that Wereid screamed back at him. The Creature froze in place. The Major shook his head before walking forward. Every step looked pained. He placed his hand on the creature, causing pulses of white light to come from him.

The creature sat down on the floor while Wereid collapsed onto the ground. Black fluid gushed from him.

"Don't touch me!" he screamed as Peep tried to help. Moments later, Wereid sat up. "Sorry, had to purge the Reaper code out before it took my root." He turned to the Guardian. "Take us to the core."

The Guardian turned to lumber off. He took them to the basement before pointing at a black data tap. "Core line." He grunted.

Carlo sighed. "Well, that just looks like a fun ride."

Phlssc grunted. "Only you would consider surfing down one of the most corrupt data taps a fun ride."

"Ride Data Car." The Guardian grunted.

The Gorilla placed his hand on the data line before reaching out to the other four. Once they all touched him, they found themselves riding in a minivan.

What they saw on the ride down scared the ever living crap out of the Synthetics. They saw broken data files from thousands of races, DNA from thousands of others flashed by, programs being held by chains being tortured for access.

Finally, the packet came to a stop. They stepped out and saw a huge black beam of light coming out from the center of the huge building.

"Master Control Program." The Gorilla grunted.

"Wait, Tron's real?" Peep said, looking around the area, seeing grey towers and sharp lines that made her think of the old movie.

"It's how your programming is translating this." Carlo said. "I am seeing this place more like Mordor and Mount Doom."

Peep nodded as the Guardian lead them into the building. He took them to a dead end corridor. "I have no more access." the Gorilla said.

The four Republican military members started to look around the corridor. Suddenly, all four of them pulled out their blades and sank them into the walls. Seconds ticked by, before Wereid let out a cry of panic.

"No!" Wereid cried out. "That is horrible!"

"Admiral! We have a message coming in from the Citadel! It is encrypted with Republican codes." Called out Comms.

"Let's hear it." Hackett ordered. "This is Hacket."

"Sir, we have a Kappa Omega problem here. I've stopped the Council arm from closing. These attackers somehow found a code that triggered this death trap. They probably just thought it was the code to force the arms closed or it was one to shut down the station.

"The problem occurs the moment the arm locks into place, indoctrination ramps the hell up. Those trapped on those arms are walking dead. There might be a few who are immune to this process but it is too late for them. Every single person has been commanded to enter processing, which ether turns them into foot soldiers or liquifies them for a birth of a new Reaper."

Hackett ran his hand over his face. "This just got a lot worse. Anything else, Major?"

"Not at this time, sir. There are yottabytes of data here, we will be here for a long time sorting this." Wereid said.

"Yottabyte?" Hacket asked.

"It's 1000^8 bytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes."

"That is a lot of data. Continue your attack. Hackett out." Hackett said before looking at Hastings. "Hastings, get me the Commander."

Hastings head shot up. "Aye, Admiral. Connecting now… Connected."

"This is Admiral Hackett, Commander. We have a code Kappa Omega with the Citadel." Hackett said to the man that appeared on his table.

"Report, Admiral." The Commander said.

"We are under attack by an unknown race that uses stealth drives. They issued a code to start processing the Citadel into Reaper forces the moment the arms locked closed. We have the Council Arm stopped before it could close. There are an estimated ten million still alive on the open arm. The others are already lost." Hackett said, his voice becoming filled with remorse that he could not save the others.

The Commander frowned slightly. "Are you sure the attackers are not an Omega-class threat?"

Hackett nodded. "Yes, sir. They are far too soft of a target for them to be Reapers."

"The data matches the ones that are also attacking Omega station but they are no match for the Prothean Dreadnoughts." The Commander said. "I am sending the _Kilimanjaro_ and support fleets to help with the evac."

Hackett tilted his head to the side and down slightly, shock clear on his face. "Sir? I thought we were keeping that from the Council."

The Commander gave a sad smile at Hackett. "It is the only ship we have strong enough to provide cover for the fleet." The Commander grabbed a pad, typing out an order quickly. There was a flaw in _The Plan_ , as the _Kilimanjaro_ was the only such ship in the whole fleet. "Clear the space one hundred thousand kilometers from the open arm. We will be arriving in twenty five seconds. Commander, out." The image winked out.

"Orders are out, Admiral." Hastings said. "Evacuating shuttles have been placed on hold."

Hackett nodded to comms. "Citadel Defense Fleet and Republican Forces. This is Admiral Hackett. We have in bound the _Kilimanjaro_. Do not fire upon it as it will be appearing directly above the open arm of the Citadel.

"We have received word that the attackers triggered a failsafe within the structure that has killed everyone that remained on the closed arms. The effect was triggered once the arm was locked closed. The Republic is bringing a fleet to provide cover for the evacuation. CDF, continue with your retreat through our portals. Republic, defend the _Kilimanjaro_. Hackett, out."

The moment Hackett finished talking, a twenty kilometer tear in space appeared above the open arm. The massive _Kilimanjaro_ drifted through the open portal. Before it had fully crossed over into Citadel space, shuttles were launching.

Once the massive ship had arrived, a dozen Battleships crossed over, moving to dock with the Citadel. The massive portal closed as quickly as it appeared.

"Evacuation portal opening in forty seconds." Came a system wide message.

The _Kilimanjaro_ opened the doors to the missile launchers, letting out thousands of nuclear powered x-ray lasers. Green bolts of plasma erupted from the ship, flinging in the direction of a group of assault shuttles making a run for the still open arm.

Milliseconds before it impacted, there was a flash of white light. When the light cleared, the fourteen shuttles were gone. In their place remained melting balls of metal. They were glowing almost white from the left over heat.

"Admiral Protacius is on the line!" Called Comms as the _Hastings_ rocked from another set of missiles.

Hackett pressed a button. "Hackett."

"By the Spirits, Admiral! What just entered the battle?!" Protacius said, fear clear in his voice.

"That is the XRCS _Kilimanjaro_ , flagship of the Orion Republic." Hackett said. " _Kilwa,_ retreat!" He called out to the fleet.

"When did you make that?" The Turian said.

"Thirty years ago." Hackett said.

"What else have you built that broke the treaty?" Protacius demanded.

"We will discuss this later. First, you need to run. We have to hold this position until that arm of the station is evacuated." Hackett said, a touch of anger in his voice.

"First, you were all about running, now you want to evac an arm of the Citadel. What about the other arms? Since you have forces closer than we expected, surely you can evacuate those remaining?" Protacius demanded

"Admiral, the attackers sent an old code that has effectively killed everyone in the closed arms. We have forces on board that have confirmed this. They are holding that arm open, at great cost." Hackett said.

"The Protheans were a paranoid lot. We will finish our departure, Protacius out."

Hackett shook his head. "Hopefully, after this, they will be open to others building the damn network." He mumbled. " _Lamorak, Kay, Gareth, Yvain,_ and _Ector_ , attack pattern Gamma."

Seconds later, the five ships formed a slight V formation, their lasers lancing out to the attackers. Shockingly, their shields held. The five ships fired at the exact same on the shields of one of the larger ships for three seconds. Point three seconds after the lasers stopped, a conventual missile slipped past the shields. It exploded inside their defensives, tearing through the vessels bridge.

"I want the Relay clear!" Hackett ordered.

"Sir, the Relay is activating again. Incoming ships match the attackers!" Sensors called.

"CDF! Drop the safeties from your engines, we are leaving in forty five seconds. Evac at ninety percent." Came the Commander's voice.

"Citadel Defense Fleet has entered the portal provided by the _Kilimanjaro."_ Said sensors after a tense forty seconds." _Kilimanjaro_ has started movement."

"All Republic Forces, retreat!" Hackett ordered.

Seconds later, the field of battle was left by Psonic portals. Hackett closed his eyes as the portal closed. He was tired and upset about the losses his fleet suffered.

"Fleet wide damage reports." Came Hackett's voice, breaking the eerie silence that followed their departure.

Hackett's hair was out of place, both from the stress of the battle and from the aftermath. He had spent the last two hours reviewing the damage reports. It was not pretty, only the _Hastings_ was deployable after the battle.

The remaining ships would take months of repairs, if they were not scrapped outright. Their first combat showing had been very poor, considering they were designed to fight Reapers. The smaller classes of ships would probably be retired, or relegated to transport duty only.

Hackett had taken a shuttle over to the _California._ It did not take him long before he entered the Captains Briefing room, where the Council had been trying to discuss what happened to their own governments. Hackett noted it was the Salarian and Asari governments that they had the most problem convincing

"Tell us again, D'linatora, why have you put the Asari onto a War footing when there is no threat to the Republics?" Demanded the Matriarch on the screen. "Why have you left the Citadel? As crazy as Tevos was, she at least knew how to keep control over the situation. The Matriarch Council is screaming for your resignation. As leader of the Council, I am inclined to accept your departure from the council."

The Asari Councilmember looked like she was about to cry. Hackett placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Matriarch, there was little choice. The Citadel was lost to the attackers." Interjected Hackett.

The Asari on the screen snorted. "If the Turians had done their job instead of retreating, by your own order, we would still have the Citadel."

Hackett sighed. "Millions have died because of the attack. Omega fared far better because they sent less forces to attack, along with the fleet that Aria had made in secret."

The Matriarch sneered. "Somehow, the bitch got her hands on Prothean tech, failing to turn it over to her betters."

Hackett snorted. "Regardless, she has at least provided information on the attackers." Hackett hit a few keys.

An image of a three meter tall creature appeared. He had four eyes, more sideways facing then forward. The creature had natural body armor, clearly having the strength to wield it.

"This is the species we are facing. It took a dozen of soldiers to take down one, resulting in an eighty percent loss rate. So far, no one has any idea where they have come from." Hackett said.

The woman on the screen was fuming. " They were just mercs, Asari commandos would have destroyed them."

Hackett snorted. "There was an Asari Commando team that had eighty percent losses. They were on Omega undercover."

The Asari blinked a few times. "What?"

"These forces are an extreme danger. Not even the Orion Republic made it from our battle without suffering wounds. We lost thousands of sailors in the battle for the Citadel. You are aware of the simulations of how your forces would fare fighting our own." Hackett said.

The woman on the screen sighed, remembering those reports. If First Contact had been hostile, things would not have gone well for the Council, with little to no ships lost for the Republic. She processed the fact that her own Commandos had trouble with the invaders along with the Republic saying that they would struggle to fight these creatures. The invaders must be mighty if Asari Commandos failed.

"Reports out of Omega show that they suffered close to ninety percent combat losses. The population has been reduced by sixty seven percent in less than a day. These creatures are a clear and present danger to the Galaxy.

"The Commander has declared war as well. I am sure you must have suspected that we have reserves that even the Salarians have not found. We are committing those forces to fight this war. We are also providing the tech for the Citadel forces including upgrades to their shields, engines and lasers. This package will also allow Council Forces to detect the invaders, and target them without Republic Forces providing Command and Control.

"The Republic is also moving all Relays from our space. We cannot afford for these doors into our territory to remain open. We recommend that the Citadel races do the same." Said Hackett.

The Woman on the screen shook her head. "We cannot move the Relays. We do not have the tech to do so."

Hackety nodded. "Very well. The Republic can provide one Relay team to move the Homeworld Relays to three light years away."

On the screen, Hackett noticed the woman closing her eyes, thinking for a moment. "I will discuss it with the Matriarch Council." She said before ending the call.

D'linatora looked up at Hackett. "Thank you. She would not listen to me _at all_." She shook her head. "Is this what everyone felt when we would say we knew best?"

Hackett gave her a knowing smile. "Honestly, yes. Long-lived does not equate to always knowing best. Change is required to continue to grow as a species but change is harder for the long lived. The Republic has experienced some of that as our lifespans grew from eighty to two hundred and eighty. Thankfully, the other races in the Republic have helped with that issue."

D'linatora nodded. "That is a hard lesson to learn considering we founded the government."

Hackett nodded. "I would recommend that you review the Asari voting record with that in mind."

The Asari woman nodded. "Perhaps we should meet with your Commander about the war."

Birum Wolsa stepped up to the two of them. "Admiral, we know which race has attacked us. They are called Yahg. STG discovered them two-hundred years ago, which resulted in discussions about uplifting them."

Wolsa looked around, his stance nervous and slightly embarrassed. "We sent a first contact team down. They attacked our team, causing the shuttle to crash. Before we issued a remote self-destruct from the ship in orbit, the Yahg ate our team, even the Turians. I will have the data forwarded."

Hackett frowned slightly. "Were they watched after?"

Wolsa shook his head. "They didn't have a Relay in their system. The nearest Relay was ten light-years away so we didn't think it mattered. There was zero chance, or so we thought, that they could leave their home system. With your short range portals proving that wrong, we should have gone back and reevaluated our assumptions."

Hackett nodded. "Perhaps but we cannot change the past, only go forward and prevent ourselves from repeating the same mistake."

Wolsa nodded. "The Council would like to meet your Commander. STG thought that the post was ceremonial and that your Prime Minister held the power."

Hacket smiled slightly. "In matters of statecraft, you are correct. In matters of war, the Commander is in charge."

"Ah, separation of powers, so to speak." Wolsa responded. He tilted his head to the side. "That ship that appeared, the _Kilimanjaro_ , is it a ship or a base that you had close to the Citadel?"

"It is a Research and Development platform. It contains our newest tech." Hackett said, trying to downplay the flagship of the XCOM Fleet..

"Very well." Wolsa said, his voice thoughtful. "May we have a meeting with the Commander to discuss the war directly?"

"I will send the request over." Hackett responded.

 **Mid Day December 10th, 2356: Terminus Systems, Omega**

Aria slumped into her chair in the ruins of Afterlife. The last twenty-eight hours had been nothing less than terrifying but beautiful in their own way. She picked up a bottle that had managed to live through the carnage. Flicking the top off, she looked at her aide who had placed a place of food in front of her.

"We are not the only ones who were attacked yesterday. The Council lost the Citadel, only able to evacuate one arm. If the Republic had not been there, the Citadel would have been lost with all hands. Half of the total Turian Fleet has been destroyed in small battles over the last three days. So far, only patrols which have Republic Forces embedded within them have survived any sort of assault.

"Omega, on the other hand, is another story. The Prothean ships worked well. Their sensors were sensitive enough to pinpoint the Yahg's locations. Their plasma beams also were a great help. As you know, we ended the space battle twelve hours ago but the lower quarter of Omega is still infested with Yahg." Aria's aide reported. "Also, you have a message at your terminal." came the comment as a device was handed to Aria

"Fuck, we will be cleaning the Yahg out of this station for decades." Aria said with an eye roll before looking at the device. "Get me my Flagship."

Moments later, a screen flashed to life. A Prothean stood on the bridge of his ship. "Avatar Javik, we are going to detach the lower half of the space station in two hours. At such time, please blow it to atomic particles."

"Very well, Lady Aria." Came the Prothean's response.

Aria leaned forward, her fingers folding into her lap. "The Republic informs me that this is not likely a Reaper attack but it could be that they are controlling the Yahg. They triggered something on the Citadel that processed everyone into Reaper shock troops"

The Avatar of Vengeance tilted his head slightly. "We always thought that those on the Citadel were killed when the Reapers entered from Dark Space " He narrowed his eyes. "Regardless, we do have enemy forces inside known space."

Aria smiled. "The Republic has several of their cursed AI troops on the station. They have apparently found that the Protheans altered the Keepers to ignore any signal sent by the Reapers. They also have found knowledge of at least seven distinct races that came before the Protheans but the data requires translation. One thing they have noted, there is no self-destruct on the station."

Aria shook her head. "The defenses on the Citadel are far greater than the we had thought, even the Protheans failed to find all of them. The Republic needs time to work around these defenses."

Javik frowned. "Perhaps we were incorrect in the assessment that AI is a threat to the living."

The Queen of Omega shook her head. "The Reapers probably made us think that so we would walk into their trap."

Javik snorted. "The Republic informed us that all of the homeworlds were seeded with rocks that indoconated our Leadership. This would fit their theory."

Aria sighed. "I hate it when inferior races are smarter than their elders."

The Prothean laughed. "Perhaps, but the young in this case are smarter than their elders. As much as it pains me to say it, perhaps the Orion Republic had the better way than the Empire."

Aria smiled. "Perhaps. After we jettison the infested section of the station, I am going to bed. I would recommend that your fleet stands down, save for patrols."

Javik tilted is head. "That is an acceptable request. We will patrol the area for other attackers." He said before ending the call.

Aria slumped back. "Have our troops fall back to the airlocks and blow the lower half of the station away."

The aide bowed. "As you command."

 **A/N: This took longer than expected as I hadn't planned on them until the next book, which is the roughest of outlines. I hadn't expected a peaceful First Contact with the Council. Come on, look at what I put around Relay 314.**

 **One reviewer commented that I hate the Asari, na, I love the Asari, I just think their government and the Council itself are freaking idiots. In ME, it works out to be about 1% of the galaxy has been mapped out by the Citadel. Yet, they think that they are the pinnacle of Galactic tech and culture. That is what we call arrogance.**

 **Preventing Relays from being opened just in case there is a threat on the other side? That's called burying your head in the sand and hoping it goes away. That is pure idiocy. Yes, the leadership of the Asari are idiots. They had to know that the Reapers were coming after three thousand years of the beacon, yet they did nothing.**

 **The Queen of Omega, all she cared about was someone messing with her. She always had a look out for things to improve her position. I respect her, hell, she even went with Shepard to reclaim her home. You won't see Tevos doing that nor most of the government that was portrayed to us. That is the reason for the apparent Asari Hate.**

 **Also, yes, the Orion Republic is going for the long Troll here. Most of the plan was set up by a man who grew up watching Sci-Fi and other fiction. So, lets have some fun with physics and opening the eyes of the Council.**

 **End of Line**


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